THE 



CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



Yes, if the intensities of hope and fear 

Attract us still, and passionate exercise 

Of lofty thoughts, the way before us lies 

Distinct with signs— through which, in fixed career. 

As through a zodiac, moves the ritual year 

Of England's Church — stupendous mysteries ! 

Which whoso travels in her bosom, eyes 

As he approaches them, with solemn cheer. 

Enough for us to cast a transient glance 

The circle through. 

Wordsworth. 



THE 



CHRISTIAN YEAR: 



THOUGHTS IN VERSE 



jFor the Stutfrags airtr fgoistraga 



THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 



' J^£t 



C 



In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. 

Isaiah xxx. 15. 



First American Edition. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

CAREY. LEA & BLANCHARD 




MDCCCXXXIV. 






7 



"i,^ 



0* 






Entered according to the act of congress, in the year 1834, by Carey, Lea 
and Blanchard, in the clerk's office of the district court of the eastern 
district of Pennsylvania. 



/ff£ 



V. » 



Philadelphia : 

Printed by James Kay, Jun. & Co. 

Race above 4th Street. 






TO 



MY NEXT FRIEND 
AND MORE THAN BROTHER, 

THE REV. WILLIAM CROSWELL, 

RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, BOSTON, 

THESE PIOUS BREATHINGS 

OF 

A KINDRED SPIRIT 

ARE MOST AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, 

G. W. D. 






St. Mary's Parsonage, 

Burlington, May 27, 1834. 



The annual course of God's great mystery, 

" The Word made flesh." On that with piercing eye 
The angels gaze. On that the Church invites 
Her sons to linger. As thereon we muse, 

On each strange scene, or all together wove, 
A wondrous tissue like the braided hues 

Which blessed the Patriarch's sight, with eye above 
Uplifted, faith the dear memorials views, 

Signs of past mercy and enduring love. 

Bishop Mant. 



Xtttrotrttctfott 



BY 



THE AMERICAN EDITOR 



The Editor's first acquaintance with the " Chris- 
tian Year" was accidental. In a little volume of 
Conversations on the Sacraments and Services of the 
Church of England, written by a lady, those beauti- 
ful lines, at the opening of the piece entitled "Holy 
Baptism" — 

" Where is it, mothers learn their love ? 

In every church a fountain springs 
O'er which the eternal Dove 

Hovers on softest wings :" — 

attracted his attention, and led him to order it 
through his bookseller. This was in 1828, the year 
after its publication. The book, when received, was 



8 Introduction 

read with unmingled delight; and no voluma of 
uninspired poetry has ever given him such rich and 
continued satisfaction. It has seemed to him, as 
Charles the Emperor thought of Florence, a book too 
pleasant to be read " but only on holidays ;"* and 
he has thought of nothing more expressive of its de- 
lightful, tranquillizing spirit, than those lines of holy 
George Herbert, 

" Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright, 
The bridal of the earth and sky." 

From the time of its first reading, the Editor has 
never ceased to recommend it to his personal friends; 
and in the " Banner of the Church," and in other 
ways, to call the public attention to its merits. 
Many copies have been imported ; and there is now 
an increasing circle of admiring and delighted read- 
ers, realizing for our Christian poet, what the greatest 
of that name desired for himself, 

" Fit audience, though few ;" — 

the " magnanimi pochi," to whom Petrarch, kin- 

" When I sat last on this primrose bank, and looked down 

these meadows, I thought of them as Charles the emperor did of 

the city of Florence ; that they were too pleasant to be looked 

on, but only on holidays," 

Isaac Walton, Complete Angler. 



By the American Editor, 9 

dred in more respects than one with Milton, made 
his sublime appeal. 

Strangely enough, though the " Christian Year" 
has passed through more than twenty-five editions in 
England,* it found no avenue to the American press, 
until brought, last summer, to the notice of the intel- 
ligent and liberal publishers under whose auspices it 
now appears. In contemplating an American edi- 
tion, it was an obvious consideration, that, to a large 
portion of the admirers of religious poetry, much of 
the charm of Keble's volume would be lost, by their 
want of familiarity with the arrangement of the 
" Christian" or Ecclesiastical " Year," which forms 
its ground work — the string on which his pearls are 
hung. The Editor undertook to supply this defi- 
ciency ; and in doing so, he has aimed to perform a 
service far beyond the additional interest which 
may thus be given to these " Thoughts in verse." 

He frankly avows the purpose of rendering the 



* a 



The almost unexampled popularity of the e Christian 
Year,' and the ' Rectory of Valehead,' both unquestionably 
breathing the pure spirit of the olden time, is no unfavourable 
prognostic of better times to come." Bishop Jebb. 

A late bookseller's list enumerates, in 8vo. six editions, in 18mo. 
ten, and in 32mo. nine. 



10 Introduction 

present enterprise subservient to the higher object of 
extending the knowledge and the influence of reli- 
gion, as it is exhibited in the order, institutions and 
services of the Church. The arrangement of the 
Ecclesiastical Year, he has always regarded as one 
of the happiest of possible contrivances for arresting 
the attention, and maintaining the interest of men, 
in regard to the great facts of Christianity, while it 
appeals most powerfully to the purest and strongest 
sympathies of the human heart in their behalf. It 
is an acknowledged principle of philosophy, that 
whatever is to make the strongest impression on men, 
must be made visible,* either to the bodily, or to the 
" mind's eye." How extensively this principle is 
applied in practice to the promotion of secular inter- 
ests, by pictures, statues, processions, pageants, every 
one has seen. The blessed Saviour recognised its 
value in the institution of his few simple, beautiful, 
visible sacraments. In the reasonable, scriptural and 
most becoming appointments of the "Christian Year," 



* " Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, 
Quam qua? sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et qua? 
Ipse sibi tradit spectator." 

Horace. 



By the American Editor. 11 

the Church, following the example of the divine ap- 
pointments under the law, has applied this obvious 
principle to the commemoration of the great facts of 
Christianity. In the festivals of the Nativity, the 
Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the 
divine Saviour seems, year by year, to be visibly set 
forth in his mighty and merciful acts, performed for 
our redemption : while in the minor festivals, the 
blessed weekly feast of Sunday, and the solemn days 
of preparation and of commemoration, the glorious 
and endearing theme is constantly kept up before 
our eyes and hearts ; and " the rolling year," in a 
sense far higher than the poet's,* " is full of" Him. 
The effect of this practice, where it has been adopted, 
has been well seen in the increase of the knowledge 
of salvation, and in the familiarity, to which even 
children attain, with the " first principles of the doc- 
trine of Christ." In the additional interest which 
this little volume will create in these, the most im- 
portant of all subjects, the Editor expects to find his 
sufficient reward. 

The Author of these pieces, it has come incident- 

* Thomson's Hymn to the Seasons. 



12 Introduction 

ally to the knowledge of the Editor, while he holds 
the most honourable office of Professor of Poetry in 
the University of Oxford, is the exemplary and faith- 
ful pastor of a humble country congregation, and 
devotes himself unsparingly to the spiritual welfare 
of a rustic flock, in which there is scarcely a single 
family of rank or education. It is in such a school, 
that the sweetest and most Christian poet of modern 
days, is fitly taught. So it was that Bemerton, and 
Little Gidden, and Hodnet, became nurseries of 
strains that shall never die. God be thanked, that 
along the tract of ages he still scatters spirits like 
Hooker's, and Herbert's, and Walton's, and Ken's, 
and Ferrar's, and Jeremy Taylor's, and Heber's, and 
Keble's, — to show how nearly the human may by 
grace attain to the angelic nature, to enchant our 
spirits here by the prolusion of those seraphic strains 
which in heaven are the continual occupation and 
enjoyment of the saints, — " singing on earth," as 
Isaak Walton said of Herbert, " such hymns and 
anthems as the angels, and he, and Mr. Ferrar now 
sing in heaven." 

In conclusion, the " Christian Year," apart from 
its high poetical merit, is recommended most earn- 



By the American Editor. 13 

estlyfor its pure, affectionate, and elevating charac- 
ter, as a family book. The taste which can appre- 
ciate its excellencies, is a Christian taste. The 
meditation of its eminently spiritual strains will tend 
to spiritualize the heart. And the Christian home, 
where it is made a household book, will find it fruit- 
ful, above almost every book of human origin, in 
homebred charities and innocent delights. " Then 
came the long quiet evening," writes one who can 
well estimate the various merits of a volume which 
she has done much to draw into general use, 
" when some of us gathered, as closely as possible, 
round the bright fire, and listened, while one and 
another dear voice read some passage from Keble's 
Christian Year. Soothing, beautiful poetry ! well 
calculated to lift the heart above the cares of this 
troublesome world, and to light the path with the 
sunshine of heaven."* 

G. W. D. 
St. Mary's Parsonage, 

Burlington, July 1, 1834. 



* Scenes in our Parish, by a Country Parson's Daughter. 






Throughout the volume the notes of the American Editor 
are enclosed in brackets. 



^tttftor's 9ftto*rtteement 



Next to a sound rule of faith, there is nothing of so 
much consequence as a sober standard of feeling in 
matters of practical religion : and it is the peculiar 
happiness of the Church of England, to possess, in 
her authorized formularies, an ample and secure 
provision for both. But in times of much leisure 
and unbounded curiosity, when excitement of every 
kind is sought after with a morbid eagerness, this part 
of the merit of our Liturgy is likely in some measure 
to be lost, on many even of its sincere admirers : 
the very tempers, which most require such discipline, 
setting themselves, in general, most decidedly 
against it. 

The object of the present publication will be at- 
tained, if any person find assistance from it in bring- 
ing his own thoughts and feelings into more entire 
unison with those recommended and exemplified in 



16 Author's Advertisement. 

the Prayer Book. The work does not furnish a com- 
plete series of compositions ; being, in many parts, 
rather adapted with more or less propriety to the suc- 
cessive portions of the Liturgy, than originally sug- 
gested by them. Something has been added at the 
end concerning the several Occasional Services : 
which constitute, from their personal and domestic 
nature, the most perfect instance of that soothing 
tendency in the Prayer Book, which it is the chief 
purpose of these pages to exhibit. 

May 30, 1827. 



J^ortttug* 



His compassions fail not. Tney are new every morning. 

f .nvn p 



Lament, iii. 22, 23. 



HUES of the rich unfolding morn, 
That, ere the glorious sun be born, 
By some soft touch invisible 
Around his path are taught to swell ; — 

Thou rustling breeze so fresh and gay, 
- That dancest forth at opening day, 
And brushing by with joyous wing, 
Wakenest each little leaf to sing ; — * 

Ye fragrant clouds of dewy steam, 
By which deep grove and tangled stream 
Pay, for soft rains in season given, 
Their tribute to the genial heaven ; — 

* [ The Editor is accountable, throughout the volume, for the use of the 
Italic letter. He has adopted that mode of designating such lines as possess, 
in his judgment, peculiar beauty. All such, however, he does not pretend 
to have marked. That would have been to make the Italic quite too pre- 
dominant. He has marked the most striking. ] 
A 



18 Morning, 

Why waste your treasures of delight 
Upon our thankless, joyless sight ; 
Who, day by day to sin awake, 
Seldom of heaven and you partake ? 

Oh ! timely happy, timely wise, 
Hearts that with rising morn arise ! 
Eyes that the beam celestial view, 
Which evermore makes all things new !* 

New every morning is the love 
Our wakening and uprising prove ; 
Through sleep and darkness safely brought, 
Restored to life, and power, and thought. 

New mercies, each returning day, 

Hover around us while we pray ; 

New perils past, new sins forgiven, 

New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. 

If on our daily course our mind 
Be set to hallow all we find, 
New treasures still, of countless price, 
God will provide for sacrifice. 

Old friends, old scenes, will lovelier be, 
As more of heaven in each we see : 
Some softening gleam of love and prayer 
Shall dawn on every cross and care. 

* Revelations xxi. 5. 



Morning. 19 

As for some dear familiar strain 
Untir'd we ask, and ask again, 
Ever, in its melodious store, 
Finding a spell unheard before ; 

Such is the bliss of souls serene, 

When they have sworn, and steadfast mean, 

Counting the cost, in all to' espy 

Their God, in all themselves deny. 

O could we learn that sacrifice, 
What lights would all around us rise ! 
How would our hearts with wisdom talk 
Along life's dullest dreariest walk ! 

We need not bid, for cloister' d cell, 
Our neighbour and our work farewell, 
Nor strive to wind ourselves too high 
For sinful man beneath the sky : 

The trivial round, the common task, 
Would furnish all we ought to ask ; 
Room to deny ourselves ; a road 
To bring us, daily, nearer God.* 

* [ " O for a closer walk with God, 

A calm and heavenly frame ; 
A light to shine upon the road 

That leads me to the Lamb." 

Coioper. ] 



20 Morning. 

Seek we no more ; content with these, 
Let present Rapture, Comfort, Ease, 
As Heaven shall bid them, come and go 
The secret this of Rest below. 

Only, Lord, in thy dear love 
Fit us for perfect rest above ; 
And help us, this and every day, 
To live more nearly as we pray. 



SStentng. 



Abide with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent. 

St. Luke xxiv. 29. 



'TIS gone, that bright and orbed blaze, 
Fast fading from our wistful gaze ; 
Yon mantling cloud has hid from sigh 
The last faint pulse of quivering light. 

In darkness and in weariness 
, The traveller on his way must press, 
>.* No gleam to watch on tree or tower, 
Whiling away the lonesome hour. 

Sun of my soul ! Thou Saviour dear, 
It is not night if Thou be near : 
Oh may no earth-born cloud arise 
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes. 

When round thy wondrous works below 

My searching rapturous glance I throw, 

Tracing out Wisdom, Power and Love, 

In earth or sky, in stream or grove; — 
a2 



22 Evening. 

Or by the light thy words disclose 
Watch Time's full river as it flows, 
Scanning thy gracious Providence, 
Where not too deep for mortal sense :— 

When with dear friends sweet talk I hold? 
And all the flowers of life unfold; — ■* 
Let not my heart within me burn, 
Except in all I Thee discern. 

When the soft dews of kindly sleep 
My wearied eyelids gently steep, 
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest 
For ever on my Saviour's breast. 

Abide with me from morn till eve, 
For without Thee I cannot live : 
Abide with me when night is nigh, 
For without thee I dare not die. 

Thou Framer of the light and dark, 
Steer through the tempest thine own ark : 
Amid the howling wintry sea 
We are in port if we have Thee.t 

* [ " Les plaisirs sont les fleurs que notre divine Maitre, 
Dans les ronces du monde, autour de nous fait naitre, 
Chacun a sa saison." ] 
f Then they willingly received Him into the ship; and immediately the 
ship was at the land whither they went. St. John vi. 21. 



Evening. 23 

The Rulers of this Christian land, 
'Twixt Thee and us ordained to stand, — 
Guide Thou their course, Lord, aright, 
Let all do all as in thy sight. 

Oh by thine own sad burthen, borne 
So meekly up the hill of scorn, 
Teach Thou thy Priests their daily cross 
To bear as thine, nor count it loss ! 

If some poor wandering child of thine 
Have spurn' d, to-day, the voice divine, 
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin ; 
Let him no more lie down in sin. 

Watch by the sick : enrich the poor 
With blessings from thy boundless store : 
Be every mourner's sleep to-night, 
Like infant's slumbers, pure and light. 

Come near and bless us when we wake, 
Ere through the world our way we take : 
Till in the ocean of thy love 
We lose ourselves in heaven above. 



^tfoeut Stttrtrag* 



* 



Now it is high time to awake out of sleep : for now is our salvation nearer 
than when we believed. Romans xiii. 11. [Epistle for the day.] 



[Almighty God, give us grace that we may castaway the works 
of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the 
time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to 
visit us in great humility ; that, in the last day, when he shall 
come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and 
dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth 
and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. 
JlmenA] 

* [ The beginning of that season which commemorates the Advent or com- 
ing of our blessed Lord. It has immediate reference to his first coming in the 
flesh, and so is designed to prepare us for the due celebration of the festival of 
the nativity, commonly called Christmas Day. It has ultimate reference to 
his second coming in glory, and so is designed to aid us in preparation for the 
day of final Judgment. The Advent Sundays, of which this is the first, are 
the four next preceding Christmas. Theirs* Sunday in Advent is always 
the Sunday nearest to the festival of St. Andrew, whether before or after. If 
that Sunday fall on the last day of November, then St. Andrew's Day and 
Advent Sunday coincide. See note on St. Andrew's Day. ] 

f [ Throughout the "Christian Year," the collect for the day, in the 
book of Common Prayer, will be inserted. ] 



Advent Sunday. 25 

AWAKE — again the Gospel-trump is blown — 
From year to year it swells with louder tone, 
From year to year the signs of wrath 
Are gathering round the Judge's path, 
Strange words fulfill'd, and mighty works achiev'd, 
And truth in all the world both hated and believ'd. 

Awake ! why linger in the gorgeous town, 
Sworn liegemen of the Cross and thorny crown ? 
Up from your beds of sloth for shame, 
Speed to the eastern mount like flame, 
Nor wonder, should ye find your king in tears, 
Even with the loud Hosanna ringing in his ears. 

Alas ! no need to rouse them : long ago 
They are gone forth to swell Messiah's show: 
With glittering robes and garlands sweet 
. They strew the ground beneath his feet : 
All but your hearts are there — O doom'd to prove 
The arrows wing'd in Heaven for Faith that will not 
love !* 

Meanwhile He paces through th' adoring crowd, 
Calm as the march of some majestic cloud, 

* [ " And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way : others 
cut down branches from the trees and strewed them in the way. And the 
multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, Hosanna to the Son of 
David." — Here was faith in Jesus as the Messiah. The sad catastrophe of 
the crucifixion too soon proved that it was not the faith which " worketh by 
love." ] 



26 Advent Sunday. 

That o'er wild scenes of ocean-war 

Holds its still course in heaven afar : 
Even so, heart-searching Lord, as years roll on,* 
Thou keepest silent watch from thy triumphal throne : 

Even so, the world is thronging round to gaze 
On the dread vision of the latter days, 

Constraint to own Thee, but in heart 

Prepar'd to take Barabbas' part : 
"Hosanna" now, to-morrow " Crucify," 
The changeful burden still of their rude lawless cry. 

Yet in that throng of selfish hearts untrue 
Thy sad eye rests upon thy faithful few, 

Children and childlike souls are there. 

Blind Bartimeus' humble prayer, 
And Lazarus waken'd from his four days' sleep, 
Enduring life again, that Passover to keep. 

And fast beside the olive-border' d way 

Stands the bless'd home, where Jesus deign'd to stay, 

The peaceful home, to Zeal sincere 

And heavenly Contemplation dear, 
Where Martha lov'd to wait with reverence meet, 
And wiser Mary linger' d at thy sacred feet. 

Still through decaying ages as they glide, 
Thou lov'st thy chosen remnant to divide ; 

* [ So the apostles, at the election of Matthias, addressing Jesus, " Thou, 
Lord, who knowest the heart." ] 



Advent Sunday, 27 

Sprinkled along the waste of years 

Full many a soft green isle appears : 
Pause where we may upon the desert road, 
Some shelter is in sight, some sacred safe abode. 

When withering blasts of error swept the sky,* 
And Love's last flower seem'd fain to droop and die, 

How sweet, how lone the ray benignt 

On shelter' d nooks of Palestine ! 

* Arianism in the fourth century. 

f [ The letters of Jerome are full of rural pictures of exceeding beauty. 
He evidently wrote con amore, with a painter's eye, and a poet's feeling. 
" Having passed," he says, " so much of my life in agitation, my poor bark 
now tossed with storms, now shattered against rocks, I betake myself to the 
retirement of the country, as to a safe and peaceful port. Here, plain bread, 
roots raised by my own hands, and milk, the peasant's luxury, supply me 
cheap but wholesome food. So living, we neither suffer hindrance, in our de- 
votions from drowsiness, nor in our studies from satiety. Is it summer, — our 
trees tempt us with their sheltering shade. Is it autumn, — the genial tem- 
perature of the air delights us, while the fallen leaves afford a soft and quiet 
couch. Is it spring, — flowers enamel the ground, and the tuneful birds lend 
to our hymns their sweet accompaniment. And even when winter comes, 
with storms and sleet, we have wood so cheap that we need neither sleep 
nor watch unwarmed." But there was a charm for Jerome, in his retire- 
ment, greater even than this. To the eye of a painter and the fancy of a 
poet, he added, what is far more fertile in enjoyment, the heart of a Chris- 
tian; and in his rustic seclusion this had abundant gratification. " Here," 
says he, " clownish though we are, we are all Christians. Psalms alone 
break the pervading stillness. The ploughman is singing hallelujahs while 
he turns his furrow. The reaper solaces his toil with hymns. The vine- 
yard-dresser, as he prunes his vines, chants something from the strains of 
David. These are our songs, and such the notes with which our love is 
vocal." — I find in the Annals of Modern Missions a beautiful coincidence 
with the sentiment of Jerome. " It is now very different from what it used 
to be," said a native assistant to the Moravian missionaries in Greenland. 
" Every where you hear the people singing psalms." ] 



28 Advent Sunday, 

Then to his early home did Love repair,* 

And cheer'd his sickening heart with his own native air. 

Years roll away : again the tide of crime 

Has swept thy footsteps from the favour' d clime. 

Where shall the holy Cross find rest ? 

On a crown'd monarch's! mailed breast: 
Like some bright angel o'er the darkling scene, 
Through court and camp he holds his heavenward 
course serene.J 

A fouler vision yet ; an age of light, 
Light without love, glares on the aching sight : 
O who can tell how calm and sweet, 
Meek Walton ! shows thy green retreat, § 
When wearied with the tale thy times disclose, 
The eye first finds thee out in thy secure repose ? 

Thus bad and good their several warnings give 
Of His approach, whom none may see and live : 

* See St. Jerome's Works, i. 123, edit. Erasm. 

f St. Louis in the thirteenth century. 

% [ Even Gibbon was constrained to say of him, " that he united the vir- 
tues of a king, a hero and a man ; that his martial spirit was tempered with 
the love of private and public justice ; and that Louis was the father of his 
people, the friend of his neighbours, and the terror of infidels." ] 

§ [ " Honest Izaak." See his " Complete Angler," which has been well 
called " an exquisitely pleasing performance ;'" and his incomparable lives of 
Donne, Wotton, Hooker, Herbert and Sanderson. They very properly form 
vol xi. of the " Parish Library," published by the " Protestant Episcopal 
Press," New York. ] 



Advent Sunday. 29 

Faith's ear, with awful still delight, 
Counts them like minute bells at night, 
Keeping the heart awake till dawn of morn, 
While to her funeral pile this aged world is borne.* 

But what are heaven's alarms to hearts that cower 

In wilful slumber, deepening every hour, 
That draw their curtains closer round, 
The nearer swells the trumpet's sound ? 

Lord, ere our trembling lamps sink down and die, 

Touch us with chastening hand, and make us feel Thee 
nigh.t 

* [ " The world is grown old, and her pleasures are past ; 
The world is grown old, and her form cannot last ; 
The world is grown old, and trembles for fear, 
For sorrows abound, and judgment is near." 

Bishop Heber. ] 

| [ Yet once again thy sign shall be upon the heavens displayed, 
And earth and its inhabitants be terribly afraid, 
For not in weakness clad thou com'st our woes, our sins to bear, 
But girt with all thy Father's might, his vengeance to declare. 

The terrors of that awful day, Oh ! who can understand ? 

Or who abide when thou in wrath shalt lift thy holy hand ? 

The earth shall quake, the sea shall roar, the sun in heaven grow pale ; 

But thou hast sworn, and wilt not change, thy faithful shall not fail. 

Then grant us, Saviour, so to pass our time in trembling here, 
That when upon the clouds of heaven thy glory shall appear, 
Uplifting high our joyful heads, in triumph we may rise, 
And enter, with thine angel train, thy palace in the skies ! 



G. W. D. ] 



B 



SecoutJ Sttntrag in <MKbmt 



THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 



And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up 
your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. St. Luke xxi. 28. [Gospel 
for the day.] 



[Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be writ- 
ten for our learning ; grant that we may in such wise hear them, 
read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that by patience, 
and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold 
fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given 
us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.'] 

NOT till the freezing blast is still, 
Till freely leaps the sparkling rill, 
And gales sweep soft from summer skies, 
«/2s o'er a sleeping infant's eyes 
A mother's kiss ; ere calls like these > 
No sunny gleam awakes the trees, 
Nor dare the tender now'rets show 
Their bosoms to th' uncertain glow. 



Second Sunday in Advent. 31 

Why then, in sad and wintry time, 
Her heavens all dark with doubt and crime, 
Why lifts the Church her drooping head, 
As though her evil hour were fled ? 
Is she less wise than leaves of spring, 
Or birds that cower with folded wing 1 
What sees she in this lowering sky 
To tempt her meditative eye ? 

She has a charm, a word of fire, 
A pledge of love that cannot tire ; 
By tempests, earthquakes, and by wars, 
By rushing waves and falling stars, 
By every sign her Lord foretold, 
She sees the world is waxing old,* 
And through that last and direst storm 
Descries by faith her Saviour's form. 

Not surer does each tender gem, 
Set in the fig-tree's polish'd stem, 
Foreshew the summer season bland, 
Than these dread signs thy mighty hand : 
But oh ! frail hearts, and spirits dark ! 
The season's flight unwarn'd we mark, 
But miss the Judge behind the door,t 
For all the light of sacred lore :± 

* The world hath lost his youth, and the times begin to wax old. 2 Es- 
dras xiv. 10. 
f See St. James v. 9. 
X [ Notwithstanding all the light of Scripture. ] 



32 Second Sunday in Advent. 

Yet is He there : beneath our eaves 
Each sound his wakeful ear receives : 
Hush, idle words, and thoughts of ill, 
Your Lord is listening : peace, be still.* 
Christ watches by a Christian's hearth, 
Be silent, " vain deluding mirth," 
Till in thine alter' d voice be known 
Somewhat of resignation's tone. 

But chiefly ye should lift your gaze 
Above the world's uncertain haze, 
And look with calm unwavering eye 
On the bright fields beyond the sky, 
Ye, who your Lord's commission bear, 
His way of mercy to prepare : 
Angelst He calls you : be your strife 
To lead on earth an Angel's life. 

Think not of rest ; though dreams be sweet, 
Start up, and ply your heavenward feet. 
Is not God's oath upon your head, 
Ne'er to sink back on slothful bed, 
Never again your loins untie, 
Nor let your torches waste and die, 
Till, when the shadows thickest fall, 
Ye hear your Master's midnight call ! 

* Ita fabulantur, ut qui sciant Dominum audire. Tertull. Jlpalog. p. 36, 
edit. Rigalt. 
t [ Angels, from the Greek term, meaning messengers or apostles. ] 



STfitrtr Suttircg tn ^ttftent- 



THE TRAVELLERS. 



What went ye into the wilderness to see ? a reed shaken with the wind ? 
But what went ye out for to see ? a prophet ? Yea, I say unto you, and 
more than a prophet. St. Matt. xi. 7, 8. [Gospel for the day.] 



[O Lord Jesus Christ, who, at thy first coming, didst send thy 
messenger to prepare thy way before thee ; grant that the minis- 
ters and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and 
make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to 
the wisdom of the just, that, at thy second coming to judge the 
world, we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who 
livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever 
one God, world without end. Amen.~\ 

WHAT went ye out to see 

O'er the rude sandy lea, 
Where stately Jordan flows by many a palm, 

Or where Gennesaret's wave 

Delights the flowers to lave, 
That o'er her western slope breathe airs of balm ? 

b 2 



34 Third Sunday in Advent, 

All through the summer night, 

Those blossoms red and bright* 
Spread their soft breasts, unheeding, to the breeze, 

Like hermits watching still 

Around the sacred hill, 
Where erst our Saviour watch'd upon his knees. 

The Paschal moon above 

Seems like a saint to rove, 
Left shining in the world with Christ alone ; 

Below, the lake's still face 

Sleeps sweetly in the embrace 
Of mountains terrass'd high with mossy stone. 

Here may we sit and dream 

Over the heavenly theme, 
Till to our soul the former days return ; 

Till on the grassy bed,t 

Where thousands once He fed, 
The world's incarnate Maker we discern. 

O cross no more the main, 

Wandering so wild and vain, 
To count the reeds that tremble in the wind, 

On listless dalliance bound, 

Like children gazing round, 
Who on God's works no seal of Godhead find : 

* Rhododendrons : with which the western bank of the lake is said to 
be clothed down to the water's edge, 
f [ " Now there was much grass in this place." St. John vi. 10. ] 



Third Sunday in Advent, 35 

Bask not in courtly bower, 

Or sun-bright hall of power, 
Pass Babel quick, and seek the holy land — 

From robes of Tyrian die 

Turn with undazzled eye 
To Bethlehem's glade, or Carmel's haunted strand. 

Or choose thee out a cell 

In Kedron's storied dell, 
Beside the springs of Love, that never die, 

Among the olives kneel 

The chill night-blast to feel, 
And watch the Moon that saw thy Master's agony.* 

Then rise at dawn of day, 

And wind thy thoughtful way, 
Where rested once the Temple's stately shade, 

With due feet tracing round 

The city's northern bound, 
To th' other holy garden, where the Lord was laid.f 

Who thus alternate see 

His death and victory, 

Rising and falling as on angel wings, 



* [ The passover, when our Saviour suffered, was always at the fulS 
moon. ] 

t [ " My heart untravelled still returns to thee." 

OolismiWs Traveller. ] 



36 Third Sunday in Advent. 

They, while they seem to roam, 
Draw daily nearer home, 
Their heart untravell'd still adores the King of kings.* 

Or, if at home they stay, 

Yet are they, day by day, 
In spirit journeying through the glorious land, 

Not for light Fancy's reed, 

Nor Honour's purple meed, 
Nor gifted Prophet's lore, nor Science' wondrous wand. 

But more than Prophet, more 

Than Angels can adore 
With face unveil' d, is He they go to seek : 

Blessed be God, whose grace 

Shows him in every place 
To homeliest hearts of pilgrims pure and meek. 

* [ It is worthy of notice that gardens have been the scenes of the three 
most stupendous events that have occurred on earth — the temptation and 
fall of man, the agony of the Son of God, and his resurrection from the 
grave. ] 



jFourtfi Sttutrag in gft&ent* 



DIMNESS. 



The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear 
shall hearken. Isaiah xxxii. 3. [First lesson in the evening service.] 



[O Lord, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among 
us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our 
sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running 
the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy 
may speedily help and deliver us, through the satisfaction of thy 
Son, our Lord : to whom, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be hon- 
our and glory, world without end. Amen.] 

OF the bright things in earth and air 

How little can the heart embrace ! 
Soft shades and gleaming lights are there — 

I know it well, but cannot trace. 

* [ The lines which follow are from the pen of the beloved friend to whom 
this volume is inscribed. Its pages will afford other evidence of the justice 
with which his name has been associated with the honoured name of Keble, 
as " a kindred spirit." Were he aware of the designed association, his gentle 
and retiring nature would, I know, forbid it. But one who, for nine years, 
was with him almost daily, and shared his secret thoughts, must claim to 



38 Fourth Sunday in Advent. 

Mine eye unworthy seems to read 

One page of Nature's beauteous book 



know him better than he knows himself ; and he does not fearthat Keble will 
not welcome the companionship. 

"Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again, I say, Rejoice. The Lord is at 
hand." Epistle for the last Sunday in Advent. 

" Now gird your patient loins again, 

Your wasting torches trim ! 
The chief of all the sons of men, 

Who will not welcome him? 
Rejoice, the hour is near ! At length 

The Journeyer on his way 
Comes in the greatness of his strength, 

To keep his holy day. 

" With cheerful hymns and garlands sweet 

Along his wintry road, 
Conduct him to his green retreat, 

His sheltered safe abode ; 
Fill all his court with sacred songs, 

And from the temple wall 
Wave verdure o'er the joyful throngs 

That crowd his festival. 

" And still more greenly in the mind 

Store up the hopes sublime 
Which then were born for all mankind, 

So blessed was the time ; 
And underneath these hallowed eaves, 

A Saviour will be born 
In every heart that him receives 

On his triumphal morn." 

Rev. William Croswell,,] 



Fourth Sunday in Advent. 39 

It lies before me, fair outspread — 
I only cast a wishful look. 

I cannot paint to Memory's eye 

The scene, the glance, I dearest love — 

Unchang'd themselves, in me they die, 
Or faint, or false, their shadows prove. 

In vain, with dull and tuneless ear, 

I linger by soft Music's cell, 
And in my heart of hearts would hear 

What to her own she deigns to tell. 

'Tis misty all, both sight and sound — 

I only know 'tis fair and sweet — 
'Tis wandering on enchanted ground 

With dizzy brow and tottering feet. 

But patience ! there may come a time 
When these dull ears shall scan aright 

Strains, that outring Earth's drowsy chime, 
As Heaven outshines the taper's light. 

These eyes, that dazzled now and weak 
At glancing motes in sunshine wink, 

Shall see the King's* full glory break, 
Nor from the blissful vision shrink : 



* Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty ; they shall behold the land 
that is very far off. Isaiah xxxiii. 17. 



40 Fourth Sunday in Advent, 

In fearless love and hope uncloy'd 
For ever on that ocean bright 

Empower'd to gaze ; and undestroy'd, 
Deeper and deeper plunge in light. , 

Though scarcely now their laggard glance 
Reach to an arrow's flight, that day 

They shall behold, and not in trance, 
The region " very far away." 

If Memory sometimes at our spell 
Refuse to speak, or speak amiss, 

We shall not need her where we dwell 
Ever in sight of all our bliss. 

Meanwhile, if over sea or sky 
Some tender lights unnotic'd fleet, 

Or on lov'd features dawn and die, 
Unread, to us, their lesson sweet; 

Yet are there saddening sights around, 
Which Heaven, in mercy, spares us too, 

And we see far in holy ground, 
If duly purg'd our mental view. 

The distant landscape draws not nigh 
For all our gazing; but the soul, 

That upward looks, may still descry 
Nearer, each day, the brightening goal. 



Fourth Sunday in Advent. 41 

And thou, too curious ear, that fain 
Wouldst thread the maze of Harmony, 

Content thee with one simple strain, 
The lowlier, sure, the worthier thee ; 

Till thou art duly trained, and taught 

The concord sweet of Love divine : 
Then, with that inward Music fraught, 

For ever rise, and sing, and shine. 



[December 25.] 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, 
praising God. St. Luke ii. 13. [Second Morning Lesson.] 

[Almighty God, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to 
take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a 
pure virgin; grant that we, being regenerate and made thy 
children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy 
Holy Spirit, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, 
world without end. Amen.] 

WHAT sudden blaze of song 

Spreads o'er th' expanse of Heav'n? 

* [ The name given to this festival in the Prayer Book, sufficiently de- 
C 



42 Christmas Bay, 

In waves of light it thrills along, 
Th' angelic signal given — 
" Glory to God!" from yonder central fire 
Flows out the echoing lay beyond the starry quire ; 

Like circles widening round 
Upon a clear blue river, 
Orb after orb, the wondrous sound 
Is echoed on for ever : 
" Glory to God on high, on earth be peace, 
"And love towards men of love* — salvation and release." 

Yet stay, before thou dare 
To join that festal throng; 
Listen and mark what gentle air 
First stirr'd the tide of song; 
'Tis not, " the Saviour born in David's home, 
" To whom for power and health obedient worlds 
should come :" — 

'Tis not "the Christ the Lord:" — 
With fix'd adoring look 
The choir of Angels caught the word, 
Nor yet their silence broke : 
But when they heard the sign, where Christ should be, 
In sudden light they shone and heavenly harmony. 

scribes its objects, — " The nativity of our Lord, or the birth-day of Christ, 
commonly called Christmas Day." ] 

* I have ventured to adopt the reading of the Vulgate, as being generally 
known through Pergolesi's beautiful composition, " Gloria in excelsis Deo, 
et in terra pax Jiominibus bonce voluntatis." 



Christmas Day. 43 

Wrapp'd in his swaddling bands, 
And in his manger laid, 
The hope and glory of all lands 
Is come to the world's aid : 
No peaceful home upon his cradle smil'd, 
Guests rudely went and came, where slept the royal child. 

But where thou dwellest, Lord, 
No other thought should be, 
Once duly welcom'd and ador'd, 
How should I part with Thee ? 
Bethlehem must lose Thee soon, but Thou wilt grace 
The single heart to be thy sure abiding-place. 

Thee, on the bosom laid 
Of a pure virgin mind, 
In quiet ever, and in shade, 

Shepherd and sage may find ; 
' They, who have bow'd untaught to Nature's sway, 
And they, who follow Truth along her star-parfd way. 

The pastoral spirits first* 

Approach Thee, Babe divine, 

* [ A beautiful allusion to the incidents described in that sweet pastoral 
hymn, 

" While shepherds watched their flocks by night, 
All seated on the ground," &c. 

There is much better poetry in the world than this : but it may be well 
doubted Whether there are two other lines that will thrill as many hearts, or 
brighten as many eyes. ] 



44 Christmas Day. 

For they in lowly thoughts are nurs'd, 
Meet for thy lowly shrine : 
Sooner than they should miss where Thou dost dwell, 
Angels from Heaven will stoop to guide them to thy cell. 

Still, as the day comes round 
For Thee to be reveal' d, 
By wakeful shepherds Thou art found, 
Abiding in the field. 
All through the wintry heaven and chill night air,* 
In music and in light thou dawnest on their prayer. 

* [ The determination of this holy festival to the day on which the Chris- 
tian world agrees to celebrate it, must be allowed to be an arbitrary decision. 
But its occurrence in the winter, certainly gives rise to peculiar and delight- 
ful associations and usages. The poets have not failed to improve this cir- 
cumstance. So in that glorious hymn of Milton, on the morning of Christ's 
nativity, — 

" It was the winter wild, 
While the heaven-born child 

All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies, 
Nature in awe to him 
Has doffed her gaudy trim, 

With her great Master so to sympathize : 
It was no season then for her 
To wanton with the Sun, her lusty paramour." 

The same circumstance is beautifully spiritualized in the following lines 
on " Christmas Eve," — having reference to the becoming practice of dressing 
the churches at that season with evergreens, " the fir tree, and the pine, 
and the box tree together." The author of them has more "unwritten 
poetry" in him than any man I know. 

" The thickly woven boughs they wreathe 
Through every hallowed fane 



Christmas Day. 45 

O faint not ye for fear — 

What though your wandering sheep, 
Reckless of what they see and hear, 
Lie lost in wilful sleep ? 
High Heaven in mercy to your sad annoy 
Still greets you with glad tidings of immortal joy. 

Think on th' eternal home, 
The Saviour left for you ; 
Think on the Lord most holy, come 
To dwell with hearts untrue : 
So shall ye tread untir'd his pastoral ways, 
And in the darkness sing your carol of high praise. 

A soft reviving odour breathe 

Of summer's gentle reign ; 
And rich the ray of mild green light 

Which, like an emerald's glow, 
Comes struggling through the latticed height 

Upon the crowds below. 

" O let the streams of solemn thought 

Which in those temples rise 
From deeper sources spring than aught 

Dependent on the skies : 
Then, though the summer's pride departs 

And winter's withering chill 
Rests on the cheerless woods, our hearts 

Shall be unchanging still." 

Rev. William Crosvocll. ] 



c2 



Si; Steven's Bag* 

[December 26.] 



* 



He, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and 
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Acts 
vii. 55. [Scripture appointed as the epistle for the day.] 



[Grant, O Lord, that in all our sufferings here upon earth, for 
the testimony of thy truth, we may steadfastly look up to heaven, 
and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed : and being 
filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our per- 
secutors, by the example of thy first martyr Saint Stephen, who 
prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest 
at the right hand of God, to succour all those who suffer for thee, 
our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.} 

AS rays around the source of light 
Stream upward ere he glow in sight, 
And watching by his future flight 
Set the clear heavens on fire ; 



* [ " Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," was one of the 
seven deacons first ordained, and had the distinguished honour of being the 
first martyr to the Christian faith. He was stoned to death. ] 



St. Stephen's Day. 47 

So on the King of Martyrs wait 
Three chosen bands, in royal state,* 
And all earth owns, of good and great, 
Is gather' d in that choir. 

One presses on, and welcomes death : 
One calmly yields his willing breath, 
Nor slow, nor hurrying, but in faith 

Content to die or live : 
And some, the darlings of their Lord, 
Play smiling with the flame and sword, 
And, ere they speak, to his sure word 

Unconscious witness give. 

Foremost and nearest to his throne, 
By perfect robes of triumph known, 
And likest him in look and tone, 

The holy Stephen kneels, 
With steadfast gaze, as when the sky 
Flew open to his fainting eye, 
Which, like a fading lamp, flash' d high, 

Seeing what death conceals. 



* Wheatley on the Common Prayer, c. v. sect. iv. 2. " As there are three 
kinds of martyrdom, the first both in will and deed, which is the highest , 
the second in will but not in deed ; the third in deed but not in will ; so the 
Church commemorates these martyrs in the same order: St. Stephen first, 
who suffered death both in will and deed ; St. John the Evangelist next, who 
suffered martyrdom in will but not in deed j the Holy Innocents last, who 
suffered in deed but not in will." 



48 St. Stephen's Day. 

Well might you guess what vision bright 
Was present to his raptur'd sight, 
Even as reflected streams of light 

Their solar source betray — 
The glory which our God surrounds,* 
The Son of Man, th' atoning wounds — ■ 
He sees them all ; and earth's dull bounds 

Are melting fast away. 

He sees them all — no other view 
Could stamp the Saviour's likeness true, 
Or with his love so deep embrue 

Man's sullen heart and gross — 
" Jesu, do Thou my soul receive :t 
" Jesu, do Thou my foes forgive :" 
He who would learn that prayer, must live 

Under the holy Cross. 

He, though he seem on earth to move, 
Must glide in air like gentle dove, 
From yon unclouded depths above 
Must draw his purer breath ; 



* [ " But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly to 
heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of 
God." ] 

| [ "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord 
Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice,' 
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this he fell 
asleep." ] 



St. Stephen's Day. 49 

Till men behold his angel face* 
All radiant with celestial grace, t 
Martyr all o'er, and meet to trace 
The lines of Jesus' death. 

* [ " With awful dread his murderers shook 

As, radiant and serene, 
The lustre of his dying look 

Was like an angel's seen j 
Or Moses' face of paly light, 

When down the mount he trod, 
All glowing from the glorious sight 

And presence of his God. 

" To us, with all his constancy, 

Be his rapt vision given, 
To look above by faith, and see 

Revealments bright of heaven, 
And power to speak our triumphs out 

As our last hour draws near, 
While neither clouds of fear nor doubt 

Before our view appear." 

Rev. William Croswell. 1 

4 J 

f And all that were in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face 
as it had been the face of an angel. Acts vi. 15. 



[December 27.] 

Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do ? Jesus 
saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? follow 
thou me. St. John xii. 21, 22. [ Gospel for the day.] 



[Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of 
light upon thy Church, that it being instructed by the doctrine 
of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John, may so walk 
in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to everlast- 
ing life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

" LORD, and what shall this man do?" 
Ask'st thou, Christian, for thy friend? 

If his love for Christ be true, 

Christ hath told thee of his end : 



* [ This is the festival of John, the Evangelist and Apostle, the son of 
Zebedee, and brother of James the Greater. He was especially distinguished 
during the lifetime of Jesus, as " the beloved disciple." Besides the gospel 
which bears his name, he wrote three epistles and the apocalypse. He 
lived to be nearly an hundred years old ; and, alone, of all the apostles, died 
a natural death. When he was too infirm through age to make a longer dis- 
course, his constant exhortation to the Christians at Ephesus, where he lived, 
was, " Little children, love one another !" ] 



St. John's Day. 51 

This is he whom God approves, 
This is he whom Jesus loves. 

Ask not of him more than this, 

Leave it nrhis Saviour's breast, 
Whether, early call'd to bliss, 

He in youth shall find his rest, 
Or armed in his station Avait 
Till his Lord be at the gate : 

Whether in his lonely course 

(Lonely, not forlorn) he stay, 
Or with Love's supporting force 

Cheat the toil and cheer the way : 
Leave it all in His high hand, 
Who doth hearts as streams command.* 

Gales from heaven, if so He will, 

Sweeter melodies can wake 
On the lonely mountain rill 

Than the meeting waters make. 
Who hath the Father and the Son, 
May be left, but not alone. 

Sick or healthful, slave or free, 

Wealthy, or despis'd and poor — ' 

What is that to him or thee, 

So his love to Christ endure ? 

* The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water : he 
turneth it whithersoever he will. Prorxr Isxxi* ]. 



52 St. John's Day. 

When the shore is won at last, 
Who will count the billows past 1 



? 



Only, since our souls will shrink 
At the touch of natural grief, 

When our earthly lov'd ones sink, 
Lend us, Lord, thy sure relief; 

Patient hearts, their pain to see, 

And thy grace, to follow Thee. 



/ 



Wxt f^olg Xtttiocent*** 

[December 28.] 



These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and 
to the Lamb. Revelations xiv. 4. [Scripture appointed for the Epistle.] 



[O Almighty God, who out of the mouths of babes and suck- 
lings hast ordained strength, and madest infants to glorify thee by 
their deaths : mortify and kill all vices in us, and so strengthen 
us by thy grace, that, by the innocency of our lives and con- 
stancy of our faith even unto death, we may glorify thy holy 
name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.~\ 

SAY, ye celestial guards, who wait 
In Bethlehem, round the Saviour's palace gate, 

* [ The Church on this day commemorates the infants slain in Bethle- 



The Holy Innocents. 53 

Say, who are these on golden wings, 
That hover o'er the new- born King of kings, 

Their palms and garlands telling plain 
That they are of the glorious martyr train,* 

Next to yourselves ordain' d to praise 
His name, and brighten as on Him they gaze ? 

But where their spoils and trophies ? where 
The glorious dint a martyr's shield should bear ? 

How chance no cheek among them wears 
The deep-worn trace of penitential tears, 

But all is bright and smiling love, 
As if, fresh-borne from Eden's happy grove, 

They had flown here, their King to see, 
Nor ever had been heirs of dark mortality? 

Ask, and some angel will reply, 
" These, like yourselves, were born to sin and die, 



hem, by the command of Herod, in the vain hope of destroying the Lord's 
anointed, — then, by the warning of an angel, safe in Egypt. As a service 
commemorative of children, it is sometimes called " Childermas Day." ] 
* [ Hail, infant sufferers ! martyred flow'rets, hail ! 
Cut off by ruthless knife, 
Just at the gate of life, 
Ye fell, as new-born roses fall when scattered by the gale. 
Earliest of all were ye, that suffered for the word, 
Sweet firstlings of that slaughtered flock, so precious to the Lord ; 
And round his heavenly altar now, his high uplifted throne, 
Ye guileless sport the crown and palm your martyrdom hath won. 

Imitated from Prudentius.—G. W. D. ] 

D 



54 The Holy Innocents. 

" But ere the poison root was grown, 
" God set his seal, and mark'd them for his own. 

" Baptiz'd in blood for Jesus' sake, 
" Now underneath the cross their bed they make, 

" Not to be sear'd from that sure rest 
" By frighten' d mother's shriek, or warrior's waving 
crest." 



Mindful of these, the first-fruits sweet 
Borne by the suffering Church her Lord to greet; 

Bless'd Jesus ever loved to trace 
The " innocent brightness" of an infant 1 s face. 

He rais'd them in his holy arms, 
He bless'd them from the world and all its harms : 

Heirs though they were of sin and shame, 
He bless'd them in his own and in his Father's name. 

Then, as each fond unconscious child 
On th' everlasting Parent sweetly smil'd 

(Like infants sporting on the shore, 
That tremble not at Ocean's boundless roar), 

Were they not present to thy thought, 
All souls, that in their cradles thou hast bought? 

But chiefly these, who died for Thee, 
That thou might'st live for them a sadder death to see. 

And next to these, thy gracious word 
Was, as a pledge of benediction, stor'd 






_ 



The Holy Innocents. 55 

For Christian mothers, while they moan 
Their treasured hopes, just born, baptized, and gone. 

Oh joy for Rachel's broken heart! 
She and her babes shall meet no more to part ; 

So dear to Christ her pious haste 
To trust them in his arms, for ever safe embrac'd. 

She dares not grudge to leave them there, 
Where to behold them was her heart's first prayer, 

She dares not grieve — but she must weep, 
As her pale placid martyr sinks to sleep, 

Teaching so well and silently 
How, at the shepherd's call, the lamb should die : 

How happier far than life the end 
Of souls that infant-like beneath their burthen bend. 



&ixnt Sbtttttrag after Cfmstroas* 



THE SUN-DIAL OF AHAZ. 

So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. 
Isaiah xxxviii. 8. (Compare Josh. x. 13.) [First Evening Lesson, Church 
of England Prayer Book.] 



[Almighty God, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to 
take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure 
Virgin ; grant that we, being regenerate and made thy children 
by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit, 
through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth 
"with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. 
Amen.] 

'TIS true, of old th' unchanging sun 
His daily course refus'd to run, 

The pale moon hurrying to the west 
Paus'd at a mortal's call,* to aid 
Th' avenging storm of war, that laid 
Seven guilty realms at oncet on earth's denied breast. 

* [ Joshua. ] 

f [ The Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzitea, 
and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ] 



First Sunday after Christmas. 57 

But can it be, one suppliant tear 
Should stay the ever-moving sphere ? 

A sick man's lowly breathed sigh, 
When from the world he turns away,* 
And hides his weary eyes to pray, 
Should change your mystic dance, ye wanderers of the 

sky? 

We too, O Lord, would fain command, 
As then, thy wonder-working hand, 

And backward force the waves of Time, 
That now so swift and silent bear 
Our restless bark from year to year ; 
Help us to pause and mourn to Thee our tale of crime. 

Bright hopes, that erst the bosom warm'd, 
And vows, too pure to be perform' d, 

And prayers blown wide by gales of care ; — 
These, and such faint half waking dreams, 
Like stormy lights on mountain streams, 
Wavering and broken all, athwart the conscience glare. 

How shall we 'scape th' o'erwhelming Past ? 
Can spirits broken, joys o'ercast, 

And eyes that never more may smile : — 
Can these th' avenging bolt delay, 
Or win us back one little day 
The bitterness of death to soften and beguile ? 

* And Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall, and prayed unto the 
Lord. Isaiah xxxviii. 2. 

d2 



58 First Sunday after Christmas. 

Father and Lover of our souls ! 
Though darkly round thine anger rolls, 

Thy sunshine smiles beneath the gloom ; 
Thou seek' st to warn us, not confound, 
Thy showers would pierce the harden' d ground, 
And win it to give out its brightness and perfume. 

Thou smil'st on us in wrath, and we, 
Even in remorse, would smile on Thee ; 
The tears that bathe our offer'd hearts, 
We would not have them stain'd and dim, 
But dropp'd from wings of seraphim, 
All glowing with the light accepted Love imparts. 

Time's waters will not ebb nor stay, 
Power cannot change them, but Love may ; 

What cannot be, Love counts it done. 
Deep in the heart, her searching view 
Can read where Faith is fix'd and true, 
Through shades of setting life can see Heaven's work 
begun. 

O Thou, who keep'st the Key of Love, 
Open thy fount, eternal Dove, 

And overflow this heart of mine, 
Enlarging as it fills with Thee, 
Till in one blaze of charity 
Care and remorse are lost, like motes in light divine ; 



_ 



First Sunday after Christmas. 59 

Till, as each moment wafts us higher, 
By every gush of pure desire, 

And high-breath' d hope of joys above, 
By every sacred sigh we heave, 
Whole years of folly we outlive, 
In His unerring sight, who measures Life by Love. 



&fie (Efrcttmcfsfott of (Eftrfet* 

[January 1.] 

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without 
hands. CoZossiansii.il. [Second Evening Lesson.] 



[Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, 
and obedient to the law for man ; grant us the true circumcision 
of the Spirit, that, our hearts and all our members being mortified 
from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy 
blessed will, through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.] 

THE year begins with Thee, 
And thou beginn'st with woe, 
To let the world of sinners see 
That blood for sin must flow. 

* [ Jesus Christ, taking our nature upon him , and becoming obedient to the 
law for our sakes, was circumcised on the eighth day, that he might " fulfil 
all righteousness." ] 



60 Circumcision of Christ, 

Thine infant cries, O Lord, 
Thy tears upon the breast, 
Are not enough — the legal sword 
Must do its stern behest. 

Like sacrificial wine 
Poured on a victim's head, 
Are those few precious drops of thine, 
Now first to offering led. 

They are the pledge and seal 
Of Christ's unswerving faith 
Given to his Sire, our souls to heal, 
Although it cost his death. 

They to his Church of old, 
To each true Jewish heart, 
In Gospel graces manifold 
Communion blest impart. 

Now of thy love we deem 
As of an ocean vast, 
Mounting in tides against the stream 
Of ages gone and past. 

Both theirs and ours Thou art, 
As we and they are thine ; 
Kings, Prophets, Patriarchs — all have part 
Along the sacred line. 



Circumcision of Christ. 61 

By blood and water too* 
God's mark is set on Thee, 
That in Thee every faithful view- 
Both covenants might see. 

bond of union, dear 
And strong as is Thy grace ! 
Saints, parted by a thousand year, 
May thus in heart embrace. 

Is there a mourner true, 
Who, fallen on faithless days, 
Sighs for the heart-consoling view 
Of those Heaven deign'd to praise? 

In spirit may'st thou meet 
With faithful Abraham here, 
Whom soon in Eden thou shalt greet 
A nursing Father dear. 

Would'st thou a Poet be ? 
And would thy dull heart fain 
Borrow of Israel's minstrelsy 
One high enraptur'd strain? 

Oome here thy soul to tune, 
Here set thy feeble chant, 
Here, if at all beneath the moon, 
Is holy David's haunt. 

* [ Jesus was baptised as well as circumcised. ] 



62 Circumcision of Christ. 

Art thou a child of tears, 
Cradled in care and wo ? 
And seems it hard, thy vernal years 
Few vernal joys can show? 

And fall the sounds of mirth 
Sad on thy lonely heart, 
From all the hopes and charms of earth 
Untimely call'd to part ? 

Look here, and hold thy peace : 
The Giver of all good 
Even from the womb takes no release 
From suffering, tears and blood. 

If thou would'st reap in love, 
First sow in holy fear : 
So life a winter's morn may prove 
To a bright endless year. 



" 



SetontK J&iwtras atttv (ghviztmun. 



THE PILGRIM'S SONG. 



When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue 
faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not for- 
sake them. Isaiah xli. 17. [First Morning Lesson.] 



[Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circum- 
cised, and obedient to the law for man ; grant us the true circum- 
cision of the Spirit, that, our hearts and all our members being 
mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things 
obey thy blessed will, through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen.] 

AND wilt Thou hear the fever'd heart 

To Thee in silence cry ? 
And as th' inconstant wildfires dart 

Out of the restless eye, 
Wilt Thou forgive the wayward thought. 
By kindly woes yet half untaught 
A Saviour's right, so dearly bought, 

That Hope should never die ? 



64 Second Sunday after Christmas, 

Thou wilt: for many a languid prayer 
Has reach'd Thee from the wild, 
Since the lorn mother, wandering there, 

Cast down her fainting child,* 
Then stole apart to weep and die, 
Nor knew an angel form was nigh 
To show soft waters gushing by 
And dewy shadows mild. 

Thou wilt — for Thou art Israel's God, 

And thine unwearied arm 
Is ready yet with Moses' rod, 

The hidden rill to charm 
Out of the dry unfathom'd deep 
Of sands, that lie in lifeless sleep, 
Save when the scorching whirlwinds heap 

Their waves in rude alarm. 

These moments of wild wrath are thine— 

Thine too the drearier hour 
When o'er th' horizon's silent line 
Fond hopeless fancies cower, 
And on the traveller's listless way 
Rises and sets th' unchanging day, 
No cloud in heaven to slake its ray, 
On earth no sheltering bower. 

* Hagar. See Gen. xxi. 15. 



I 



Second Sunday after Christmas. 65 

Thou wilt be there, and not forsake, 

To turn the bitter pool 
Into a bright and breezy lake, 

The throbbing brow to cool : 
Till left awhile with Thee alone 
The wilful heart be fain to own 
That He, by whom our bright hours shone, 

Our darkness best may rule. 

The scent of water far away* 

Upon the breeze is flung : 
The desert pelican to-day 

Securely leaves her young, 
Reproving thankless man, who fears 
To journey on a few lone years, 
Where on the sand thy step appears, 

Thy crown in sight is hung. 

Thou, who didst sit on Jacob's well 
The weary hour of noon,t 



* [ " The extraordinary scent of the camel enables hira to discover water 
at a great distance ; and thus, in the wildest regions of the desert, the cara- 
van is often preserved from destruction by this instinct." — " Having wan- 
dered about for a long time," says Burckhardt, speaking of a traveller in 
search of water, "he alighted under the shade of a tree, and tied the camel 
to one of its branches j the beast, however, smelt the water (as the Arabs 
express it), and wearied as it was, broke its halter, and set off gallopping fu- 
riously in the direction of the spring, which, as it afterwards appeared, was 
at half an hour's distance." Library of Entertaining Knowledge, vol. i. ] 

| St. John iv. 6. 



66 Second Sunday after Christmas. 

The languid pulses Thou canst tell, 

The nerveless spirit tune. 
Thou from whose cross in anguish burst 
The cry that own'd thy dying thirst,* 
To Thee we turn, our last and first, 
Our Sun and soothing Moon. 

From darkness, here, and dreariness 

We ask not full repose, 
Only be Thou at hand, to bless 

Our trial hour of woes. 
Is not the pilgrim's toil o'erpaid 
By the clear rill and palmy shade ? 
And see we not, up Earth's dark glade, 

The gate of Heaven unclose ? 

* St. John xix. 28. 



2Fhe TB^lpMn^J 

[January 6.] 



And, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it 
came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, 
they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. St. Matt. ii. 9, 10. [Gospel for the 
day.] 



[O God, who by the leading of a Star didst manifest thy only 
begotten Son to the Gentiles ; mercifully grant that we, who 
know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of 
thy glorious Godhead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jlmen.] 

STAR of the East, how sweet art Thou, 

Seen in Life's early morning sky, 
Ere yet a cloud has dimm'd the brow, 

While yet we gaze with childish eye ; 

When father, mother, nursing friend, 
Most dearly lov'd, and loving best, 

* [ The festival of the Epiphany, as its name imports, commemorates the 
manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, as represented by the wise men, who 
in the eastern land in which they dwelt, having seen his star, had come to 
worship him. ] 



68 Epiphany. 

First bid us from their arms ascend, 
Pointing to Thee in thy sure rest. 

Too soon the glare of earthly day 
Buries, to us, thy brightness keen, 

And we are left to find our way 
By faith and hope in Thee unseen. 

What matter ? if the waymarks sure 
On every side are round us set, 

Soon overleap'd, but not obscure ? 
'Tis ours to mark them or forget. 

What matter? if in calm old age 
Our childhood's star again arise, 

Crowning our lonely pilgrimage 
With all that cheers a wanderer's eyes ? 

Ne'er may we lose it from our sight 
Till all our hopes and thoughts are led 

To where it stays its lucid flight 
Over our Saviour's lowly bed. 

There, swath'd in humblest poverty 
On Chastity's meek lap enshrin'd, 

With breathless Reverence waiting by, 
When we our sovereign Master find, 

Will not the long-forgotten glow 
Of mingled joy and awe return, 



Epiphany. 69 

When stars above or flowers below 
First made our infant spirits burn ? 

Look on us, Lord, and take our parts 

Even on thy throne of purity ! 
From these our proud yet grovelling hearts 

Hide not thy mild forgiving eye. 

Did not the Gentile Church find grace, 
Our mother dear, this favour' d day ? 

With gold and myrrh she sought thy face,* 
Nor didst Thou turn thy face away. 

She too,t in earlier purer days, 

Had watch'd Thee gleaming faint and far — 

* [ " We come not with a costly store, 

O Lord, like them of old, — 
The masters of the starry lore,— 

From Ophir's shore of gold ; 
No weepings of the incense tree 

Are with the gifts we bring, 
Nor odorous myrrh of Araby 

Blends with our offering. 

"But still our love would bring its best, 

A spirit keenly tried 
By fierce affliction's fiery test, 

And seven times purified : 
The fragrant graces of the mind, 

The virtues that delight 
To give their perfume out, will find 

Acceptance in thy sight." 

Rev. William Croaicell. ] 
t The Patriarchal Church. 

E 2 



70 Epiphany. 

But wandering in self-chosen ways 
She lost Thee quite, thou lovely star. 

Yet had her Father's finger turn'd 
To Thee her first inquiring glance : 

The deeper shame within her burn'd, 
When waken'd from her wilful trance. 

Behold, her wisest throng thy gate, 
Their richest, sweetest, purest store, 

(Yet own'd too worthless and too late) 
They lavish on Thy cottage-floor. 

They give their best — O tenfold shame 

On us their fallen progeny, 
Who sacrifice the blind and lame* — 

Who will not wake or fast with Thee ! 

* Malachi i. 8. 



iPtrst Stwtrag after lEpiptonv. 

THE NIGHTINGALE. 

They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water- 
courses. Isaiah xliv. 4. \First Morning Lesson.] 



[O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of 
„hy people who call upon thee ; and grant that they may both 
perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may 
have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

LESSONS sweet of spring returning,* 
Welcome to the thoughtful heart ! 

May I call ye sense or learning, 
Instinct pure, or heav'r*-taught art ? 

* [ " When we write of the dawn of the year, of the new races of birds 
and of blossoms that are all around us springing into life, our utmost efforts 
can give but one enjoyment to the reader. But he who goes out to observe, 
has pleasure in every way that it can come, and health along with it. The 
beauty of the flowers and their fragrance, the elegant forms and varied tints 
of the birds, their bustling activity and sprightly conduct, and the music of 
their songs ; the sportive gambols of the young animals, and the tender soli- 
citude that is shown for them by the old, all that is, and all that occurs in the 
earth, the waters and the air, is a constant creation,— a daily, nay, an hourly 



72 First Sunday after Epiphany. 

Be your title what it may, 
Sweet and lengthening April day, 
While with you the soul is free, 
Ranging wild o'er hill and lea. 

Soft as Memnon's harp at morning, 

To the inward ear devout, 
Touch'd by light, with heavenly warning 

Your transporting chords ring out. 
Every leaf in every nook, 
Every wave in every brook, 
Chanting with a solemn voice, 
Minds us of our better choice. 

Needs no show of mountain hoary, 
Winding shore or deepening glen, 

Where the landscape in its glory 
Teaches truth to wandering men : 

Give true hearts but earth and sky, 

And some flowers to bloom and die,—-* 



springing up of new worlds : and he who lives one spring in the open air, 
may watch the whole progress of a hundred generations. Nature is then 
4 voice all over,' and whether she speaks to one of the senses, or to them 
all, she always speaks instruction." 

Mudie's British Naturalist. J 
* [ " Come quietly away with me, and we will walk up and down the 
narrow path, by the sweet-briar hedge ; and we will listen to the low song of 
the blackbird, and the fresh air will cool our aching brows, and we shall find 
comfort. To these things, fresh air, and the bird's song, and the fragrance 
of the lowly flowers, God has given a blessing ; like sleep, they are his medi- 
cines,—' balm of sweet minds !' We will walk to and fro under the shade of 



First Sunday after Epiphany, 73 

Homely scenes and simple views 
Lowly thoughts may best infuse. 

See the soft green willow springing 

Where the waters gently pass, 
Every way her free arms flinging 

O'er the moss and reedy grass. 
Long ere winter blasts are fled, 
See her tipp'd with vernal red, 
And her kindly flower display'd 
Ere her leaf can cast a shade. 

Though the rudest hand assail her, 

Patiently she droops awhile, 
But when showers and breezes hail her, 

Wears again her willing smile. 
Thus I learn Contentment's power 
From the slighted willow bower, 
Ready to give thanks and live 
On the least that Heaven may give. 

If, the quiet brooklet leaving, 

Up the stony vale I wind, 
Haply half in fancy grieving 

For the shades I leave behind, 

these elms, and we will be calm ; bitter recollections shall be made sweet by 
the thought of his mercies ; and in the midst of the sorrows we have in our 
hearts, his comforts shall refresh our souls ; and our minds shall be stored 
with many thoughts, sweet, like the perfume of these flowers." 

Scenes in our Parish. ] 



74 First Sunday after Epiphany. 

By the dusty wayside drear, 
Nightingales with joyous cheer 
Sing, my sadness to reprove, 
Gladlier than in cultur'd grove. 

Where the thickest boughs are twining 

Of the greenest darkest tree, 
There they plunge, the light declining- 
All may hear, but none may see. 
Fearless of the passing hoof, 
Hardly will they fleet aloof; 
So they live in modest ways, 
Trust entire, and ceaseless praise. 



Secmrtr Sttitfrag after 7Bpipton& 

THE SECRET OF PERPETUAL YOUTH. 

Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have 
well drunk, then that which is worse : but thou hast kept the good wine until 
now. St. John ii. 10. [Gospel for the day.} 



[Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in 
heaven and earth; mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, 
and grant us thy peace all the days of our life, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Jimen."] 

THE heart of childhood is all mirth : 
We frolic to and fro 



Second Sunday after Epiphany. 75 

As free and blithe, as if on earth 
Were no such thing as wo. 

But if indeed with reckless faith 

We trust the flattering voice, 
Which whispers, " Take thy fill ere death, 

M Indulge thee and rejoice ;" 

Too surely, every setting day, 

Some lost delight we mourn, 
The flowers all die along our way, 

Till we, too, die forlorn. 

Such is the world's gay garish feast, 

In her first charming bowl 
Infusing all that fires the breast, 

And cheats th' unstable soul. 

And still, as loud the revel swells, 

The fever'd pulse beats higher, 
Till the sear'd taste from foulest wells 

Is fain to slake its fire. 

Unlike the feast of heavenly love 

Spread at the Saviour's word 
For souls that hear his call, and prove 

Meet for his bridal board. 

Why should we fear, youth's draught of joy, 
If pure, would sparkle less ? 



76 Second Sunday after Epiphany. 

Why should the cup the sooner cloy, 
Which God hath deign' d to bless ? 

For, is it Hope, that thrills so keen 
Along each bounding vein, 

Still whispering glorious things unseen ? — 
Faith makes the vision plain. 

The world would kill her soon : but Faith 
Her daring dreams will cherish, 

Speeding her gaze o'er time and death 
To realms where nought can perish. 

Or is it Love, the dear delight 
Of hearts that know no guile, 

That all around see all things bright 
With their own magic smile ? 

The silent joy, that sinks so deep, 

Of confidence and rest, 
Lull'd in a Father's arms to sleep, 

Clasp' d to a Mother's breast ? 

Who, but a Christian, through all life 
That blessing may prolong ? 

Who, through the world's sad day of strife, 
Still chant his morning song ? 

Fathers may hate us or forsake, 
God's foundlings then are we : 



Second Sunday after Epiphany. 77 

Mother on child no pity take,* 
But we shall still have Thee. 

We may look home, and seek in vain 

A fond fraternal heart, 
But Christ hath given his promise plain 

To do a brother's part. 

Nor shall dull age, as worldlings say, 

The heavenward flame annoy: 
The Saviour cannot pass away, 

And with him lives our joy. 

Ever the richest, tenderest glow 

Sets round th' autumnal sun — 
But there sight fails : no heart may know 

The bliss when life is done. 

Such is thy banquet, dearest Lord ; 

O give us grace, to cast 
Our lot with thine, to trust thy word, 

And keep our best till last. 

* Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have com- 
passion on the son of her womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget 
thee. Isaiah xlix. 15. 



Ehitti SttttSag after JBpipMn^ 



THE GOOD CENTUEION. 



When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily 
I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. St. Mat- 
thew viii. 10. [Gospel for the day."] 



[Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our in- 
firmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy 
right hand to help and defend us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Jlmen.] 

I MARK'D a rainbow in the north, 

What time the wild autumnal sun 
From his dark veil at noon look'd forth, 

As glorying in his course half done, 
Flinging soft radiance far and wide 
Over the dusky heaven and bleak hill-side. 

It was a gleam to Memory dear, 

And as I walk and muse apart, 
When all seems faithless round and drear, 

I would revive it in my heart, 



Third Sunday after Epiphany, 79 

And watch how light can find its way 
To regions farthest from the fount of day. 

Light flashes in the gloomiest sky 

And Music in the dullest plain, 
For there the lark is soaring high 

Over her flat and leafless reign, 
And chanting in so blithe a tone, 
It shames the weary heart to feel itself alone. 

Brighter than rainbow in the north, 
More cheery than the matin lark, 
Is the soft gleam of Christian worth, 

Which on some holy house we mark ; 
Dear to the pastor's aching heart 
To think, where'er he looks, such gleam may have a 
part; 

May dwell, unseen by all but Heaven, 
Like diamond blazing in the mine ; 

For ever, where such grace is given, 
It fears in open day to shine.* 

* Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof , 
" From the first time that the impressions of religion settled deeply in his 
mind, he used great caution to conceal it ; not only in obedience to the rule 
given by our Saviour, of fasting, praying, and giving alms in secret, but from 
a particular distrust he had of himself ; for he said he was afraid he should at 
some time or other do some enormous thing, which if he were looked on as a 
very religious man, might cast a reproach on the profession of it, and give 
great advantages to impious men to blaspheme the name of God." Burnet's 
Life of Hale, in Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. vi. 73. 



80 Third Sunday after Epiphany. 

Lest the deep stain it owns within 
Break out, and Faith be sham'd by the believer's sin. 

In silence and afar they wait, 

To find a prayer their Lord may hear : 
Voice of the poor and desolate, 

You best may bring it to his ear. 
Your grateful intercessions rise 
With more than royal pomp, and pierce the skies. 

Happy the soul, whose precious cause 
You in the sovereign Presence plead- — 

" This in the lover of thy laws,* 

" The friend of thine in fear and need"— 

For to the poor thy mercy lends 
That solemn style, "thy nation and thy friends." 

He too is blest, whose outward eye 

The graceful lines of art may trace, 
While his free spirit, soaring high, 

Discerns the glorious from the base ; 
Till out of dust his magic raiset 
A home for prayer and love, and full harmonious praise, 

Where far away and high above, 
In maze on maze the tranced sight 



* He loveth our nation. f He hath built us a synagogue. 






T7iird Sunday after Epiphany. 81 

Strays,- mindful of that heavenly love 

Which knows no end in depth or height, 
While the strong breath of Music seems 
To waft us ever on, soaring in blissful dreams.* 

What though in poor and humble guise 

Thou here didst sojourn, cottage-born? 
Yet from thy glory in the skies 

Our earthly gold Thou dost not scorn. 
For Love delights to bring her best, 
And where Love is, that offering evermore is blest. 

Love on the Saviour's dying head 

Her spikenard drops unblam'd may pour, 

May mount his cross, and wrap him, dead, 
In spices from the golden shore ;t 

Risen, may embalm his sacred name 
With all a Painter's art, and all a Minstrel's flame. 

Worthless and lost our offerings seem, 

Drops in the ocean of his praise ; 
But Mercy with her genial beam 

Is ripening them to pearly blaze, 
To sparkle in His crown above, 
Who welcomes here a child's as there an angel's love. 



* [ In this and the former stanza allusion is made to William of Wyke- 
ham, and Winchester cathedral. The Gothic architecture and cathedral 
music are beautifully hinted at. ] 

f St. John xii. 7, six. 30. 

F 2 



s* 



jFmtrtii Stwfcag after 7B$itf\m& 



THE WORLD IS FOR EXCITEMENT, THE GOSPEL FOR SOOTH- 
ING. 



When they saw him, they besought him to depart out of their coasts. St. 
Matthew viii. 34. [Gospel for the day.] 



[O God, who knowestus to be set in the midst of so many and 
great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we can- 
not always stand upright ; grant to us such strength and protec- 
tion, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all 
temptations, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

THEY know th' Almighty's power, 
Who, waken'd by the rushing midnight shower, 

Watch for the fitful breeze 
To howl and chafe amid the bending trees, 

Watch for the still white gleam 
To bathe the landscape in a fiery stream, 
Touching the tremulous eye with sense of light 
Too rapid and too pure for all but angel sight. 

They know the Almighty's love, 
Who, when the whirlwinds rock the topmost grove, 



Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. 83 

Stand in the shade, and hear 
The tumult with a deep exulting fear, 
How in their fiercest sway, 
Curbed by some power unseen, they die away, 
Like a bold steed that owns his rider's arm, 
Proud to be checked and sooth? d by that o'er-master- 
ing charm. 

But there are storms within 
That heave the struggling heart with wilder din, 

And there are power and love 
The maniac's rushing frenzy to reprove, 

And when he takes his seat, 
Cloth'd and in calmness, at his Saviour's feet,* 
Is not the power as strange, the love as blest, 
As when He said, Be still, and ocean sank to rest ? 

Woe to the wayward heart, 
That gladlier turns to eye the shuddering start 

Of Passion in her might, 
Than marks the silent growth of grace and light ; — 

Pleas'd in the cheerless tomb 
To linger, while the morning rays illume 
Green lake, and cedar tuft, and spicy glade, 
Shaking their dewy tresses now the storm is laid. 

The storm is laid — and now 
In his meek power He climbs the mountain's brow, 

* St. Mark v. 15, iv. 39. 



84 Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. 

Who bade the waves go sleep, 
And lash'd the vex'd fiends to their yawning deep. 

How on a rock they stand, 
Who watch his eye, and hold his guiding hand ? 
Not half so fix'd, amid her vassal hills, 
Rises the holy pile that Kedron's valley fills. 

And wilt thou seek again 
Thy howling waste, thy charnel-house and chain, 

And with the demons be, 
Rather than clasp thine own Deliverer's knee? 

Sure 'tis no heav'n-bred awe 
That bids thee from his healing touch withdraw, 
The world and He are struggling in thine heart, 
And in thy reckless mood thou bidd'st thy Lord depart. 

He, merciful and mild, 
As erst, beholding, loves his wayward child ; 

When souls of highest birth 
Waste their impassion'd might on dreams of earth, 

He opens Nature's book, 
And on his glorious Gospel bids them look, 
Till by such chords, as rule the choirs above, 
Their lawless cries are tun'd to hymns of perfect love. 






iFfftft Sttnfcag after lE$\phm£. 

CURE SIN, AND YOU CURE SORROW. 

Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his 
ear heavy, that it cannot hear : but your iniquities have separated between 
you and your God. Isaiah lix. 1, 2. [First Morning Lesson for the day, 
Church cf England Service.] 



[O Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy Church and Household 
continually in thy true religion, that they who do lean only upon 
the hope of thy heavenly grace, may evermore be defended by 
thy mighty power, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.} 



" WAKE, arm divine ! awake, 

44 Eye of the only Wise ! 
" Now for thy glory's sake, 

" Saviour and God, arise, 
And may thine ear, that sealed seems, 
' In pity mark our mournful themes 1" 



u 



Thus in her lonely hour 
Thy Church is fain to cry, 

As if thy love and power 

Were vanished from her sky ; 



a 



86 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. 

Yet God is there, and at his side 
He triumphs, who for sinners died. 

Ah ! 'tis the world enthrals 

The heaven-betrothed breast ; 
The traitor Sense recalls 
The soaring soul from rest. 
That bitter sigh was all for earth, 
For glories gone, and vanish'd mirth. 

Age would to youth return, 

Farther from heaven would be, 
To feel the wild fire burn, 
On idolizing knee 
Again to fall, and rob thy shrine 
Of hearts, the right of love divine. 

Lord of this erring flock ! 

Thou whose soft showers distil 
On ocean waste or rock, 
Free as on Hermon hill — 
Do Thou our craven spirits cheer, 
And shame away the selfish tear. 

'Twas silent all and dead* 
Beside the barren sea, 

* See Acts viii. 26—40. [ " Arise and go toward the south, unto the way 
that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert." A fine speci- 
men of Keble's intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures, in their most 
minute details. ] 



Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, 87 

"Where Philip's steps were led, 
Led by a voice from thee — 
He rose and went, nor ask'd Thee why, 
Nor stayed to heave one faithless sigh ; 

Upon his lonely way 

The high-born traveller came, 
Reading a mournful lay 

Of " One who bore our shame,* 
" Silent himself, his name untold, 
" And yet his glories were of old." 

To muse what Heaven might mean 

His wondering brow he rais'd, 
And met an eye serene 

That on him watchful gaz'd. 
No Hermit e'er so welcome cross'd 
A child's lone path in woodland lost. 

Now wonder turns to love ; 
The scrolls of sacred lore 
No darksome mazes prove ; 
The desert tires no more : 
They bathe where holy waters flow,f 
Then on their way rejoicing go.J 



* Isaiah liii. 6—8. 

| [ " See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized ?" ] 

X [ " And he went on his way rejoicing." ] 



88 Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, 

They part to meet in heaven ; 

But of the joy they share, 
Absolving and forgiven, 

The sweet remembrance bear. 
Yes — mark him well, ye cold and proud, 
Bewilder' d in a heartless crowd, 

Starting and turning pale 

At Rumour's angry din— • 
No storm can now assail 
The charm he wears within, 
Rejoicing still, and doing good, 
And with the thought of God imbu'd. 

No glare of high estate, 

No gloom of woe or want, 
The radiance can abate 

Where Heaven delights to haunt, 
Sin only hides the genial ray, 
And, round the Cross, makes night of day. 

Then weep it from thy heart ; 

So may'st thou duly learn 
The intercessor's part, 

Thy prayers and tears may earn 
For fallen souls some healing breath, 
Ere they have died th' Apostate's death. 



Stfrtfi Sutfflag after SjJtpfiauB- 



THE BENEFITS OF UNCERTAINTY. 



Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we 
shall be: but we know, that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, 
for we shall see Him as he is. 1 St. John iii. 2. [Epistle for the day.] 



[O God, whose blessed Son was manifested that he might de- 
stroy the works of the devil, and make us the sons of God and 
heirs of eternal life; grant us, we beseech thee, that having this 
hope, we may purify ourselves, even as he is pure ; that when 
he shall appear again with power and great glory, we may be 
made like unto him in his eternal and glorious kingdom ; where, 
with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, he liveth and 
reigneth, ever one God, world without end. Jlmen.~\ 

THERE are, who darkling and alone, 
Would wish the weary night were gone, 
Though dawning morn should only show 
The secret of their unknown woe : 
Who pray for sharpest throbs of pain 
To ease them of doubt's galling chain : 

G 



90 Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. 



n 



Only disperse the cloud," they cry, 
" And if our fate be death, give light and let us die."* 

Unwise I deem them, Lord, unmeet 
To profit by thy chastenings sweet, 
For thou would'st have us linger still 
Upon the verge of good or ill, 
That on thy guiding hand unseen 
Our undivided hearts may lean, 
And this our frail and foundering bark 
Glide in the narrow wake of thy beloved ark. 

'Tis so in war — the champion true 
Loves victory more, when dim in view 
He sees her glories gild afar 
The dusky edge of stubborn war, 
Than if th' untrodden bloodless field 
The harvest of her laurels yield ; 
Let not my bark in calm abide, 
But win her fearless way against the chafing tide. 

'Tis so in love — the faithful heart 
From her dim vision would not part, 
When first to her fond gaze is given 
That purest spot in Fancy's heaven, 
For all the gorgeous sky beside, 
Though pledg'd her own and sure t' abide : 



Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. 



91 



Dearer than every past noon-day 
That twilight gleam to her, though faint and far away. 

So have I seen some tender flower 
Priz'd above all the vernal bower, 
Shelter' d beneath the coolest shade, 
Embosom'd in the greenest glade, 
So frail a gem, it scarce may bear 
The playful touch of evening air ; 
When hardier grown, we love it less, 
And trust it from our sight, not needing our caress. 

And wherefore is the sweet spring tide 
Worth all the changeful year beside ? 
The last-born babe, why lies its part 
Deep in the mother's inmost heart? 
But that the Lord and source of love 
Would have his weakest ever prove 
Our tenderest care — and most of all 
Our frail immortal souls, His work and Satan's thrall. 

So be it, Lord ; I know it best, 
Though not as yet this wayward breast 
Beat quite in answer to thy voice, 
Yet surely I have made my choice ; 
I know not yet the promis'd bliss, 
Know not if I shall win or miss ; 
So doubting, rather let me die, 
Than close with aught beside, to last eternally. 



92 Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. 

What is the Heaven we idly dream ? 
The self-deceiver's dreary theme, 
A cloudless sun that softly shines, 
Bright maidens and unfailing vines, 
The warrior's pride, the hunter's mirth, 
Poor fragments all of this low earth : 
Such as in sleep would hardly soothe 
A soul that once had tasted of immortal Truth. 

What is the Heaven our God bestows ? 
No Prophet yet, no Angel knows ; 
Was never yet created eye 
Could see across Eternity ; 
Not seraph's wing for ever soaring 
Can pass the flight of souls adoring, 
That nearer still and nearer grow 
To th' unapproached Lord, once made for them so low. 

Unseen, unfelt their earthly growth, 
And self-accus'd of sin and sloth 
They live and die : their names decay, 
Their fragrance passes quite away ; 
Like violets in the freezing blast 
No vernal steam around they cast, — 
But they shall flourish from the tomb, 
The breath of God shall wake them into od'rous bloom. 

Then on th' incarnate Saviour's breast, 
The fount of sweetness, they shall rest, 



Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, 93 

Their spirits every hour imbu'd 
More deeply with his precious blood. 
But peace — still voice and closed eye 
Suit best with hearts beyond the sky, 
Hearts training in their low abode, 
Daily to lose themselves in hope to find their God. 



Sejrtuasemma Sbttntrag^ 



The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly 

seen, being understood by the things which are made. Romans i. 20. 

f 



[O Lord, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of 
thy people, that we, who are justly punished for our offences, 
may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of 
thy name, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and 
reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world 
without end. Amen.'} 

THERE is a book, who runs may read, 

Which heavenly truth imparts, 
And all the lore its scholars need, 

Pure eyes and Christian hearts. 

* [ The three Sundays next preceding Lent are called, respectively, Sep- 
tuagesima, Sezagesima and Quinquagcsima Sundays, because nearly seventy, 
sixty, and fifty days before Easter. The services appointed for them are de- 
signed as a preparation for the due observance of the Lenten fast. ] 

g2 



94 Septuagesima Sunday, 

The works of God above, below, 

Within us and around, 
Are pages in that book, to show 

How God himself is found. 

The glorious sky embracing all 

Is like the Maker's love, 
Wherewith encompass'd, great and small 

In peace and order move. 

The Moon above, the Church below, 

A wondrous race they run, 
But all their radiance, all their glow, 

Each borrows of its Sun. 

The Saviour lends the light and heat 

That crowns his holy hill ; 
The saints, like stars, around his seat, 

Perform their courses still.* 

The saints above are stars in Heaven — 
What are the saints on earth ? 

Like trees they stand whom God has given,! 
Our Eden's happy birth. 

Faith is their fix'd unswerving root, 
Hope their unfading flower, 

Fair deeds of charity their fruit, 
The glory of their bower. 

* Daniel xii. 3. f Isaiah lx. 21. 



Septuagesima Sunday. 95 

The dew of Heaven is like thy grace,* 

It steals in silence down ; 
But where it lights, the favour' d place 

By richest fruits is known. 

One Name above all glorious names 

With its ten thousand tongues 
The everlasting sea proclaims, 

Echoing angelic songs. 

The raging Fire,t the roaring Wind, 

Thy boundless power display : 
But in the gentler breeze we find 

Thy Spirit's viewless way4 

Two worlds are ours : 'tis only Sin 

Forbids us to descry 
The mystic heaven and earth within, 

Plain as the sea and sky. 

Thou, who hast given me eyes to see 

And love this sight so fair, 
Give me a heart to find out Thee, 

And read Thee every where. 

* Psalm lxviii. 9. f Hebrews xii. 29. % St. John iii. 8- 



Sejrasestma Suutrag. 



So he drove out the man, and placed at the east of the garden of Eden 
Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way 
of the tree of life. Gen. iii. 24. Compare Ch. vi. [First Lessons in the Morn- 
ing and Evening Service of the Church of England.'] 



[O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing 
that we do ; mercifully grant that by thy power we may be de- 
fended against all adversity, through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
Amen.] 

FOE of mankind ! too bold thy race : 

Thou runn'st at such a reckless pace, 
Thine own dire work thou surely wilt confound : 

'Twas but one little drop of sin 

We saw this morning enter in, 
And lo ! at eventide the world is drown' d.* 

See here the fruit of wandering eyes, 
Of worldly longings to be wise, 

* [ In the order of lessons for Sexagesima Sunday in the Church of Eng- 
land, that from the Old Testament for the morning relates the fall, and 
that for the evening, the flood.] 



Sexagesima Sunday, 97 

Of Passion dwelling on forbidden sweets: 

Ye lawless glances, freely rove ; 

Ruin below and wrath above 
Are all that now the wildering fancy meets. 

Lord, when in some deep garden glade, 

Of Thee and of myself afraid, 
From thoughts like these among the bowers I hide, 

Nearest and loudest then of all 

I seem to hear the Judge's call : — 
" Where art thou, fallen man? come forth, and be thou 
tried." 

Trembling before Thee as I stand, 

Where'er I gaze on either hand 
The sentence is gone forth, the ground is curs'd : 

Yet mingled with the penal shower 

Some drops of balm in every bower 
Steal down like April dews, that softest fall and first. 

If filial and maternal love* 

Memorial of our guilt must prove, 
If sinful babes in sorrow must be born, 

Yet, to assuage her sharpest throes, 

The faithful mother surely knows, 
This was the way Thou cam'st to save the world forlorn. t 



* In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children. 

f [ Notwithstanding she shall be saved in child bearing. 1 Tim. ii. 15. ] 



98 Sexagesima Sunday. 

If blessed wedlock may not bless* 

Without some tinge of bitterness 
To dash her cup of joy, since Eden lost, 

Chaining to earth with strong desire 

Hearts that would highest else aspire, 
And o'er the tenderer sex usurping ever most ; 

Yet by the light of Christian lore 

'Tis blind Idolatry no more, 
But a sweet help and pattern of true love, 

Showing how best the soul may cling 

To her immortal Spouse and King, 
How He should rule, and she with full desire approve. 

If niggard Earth her treasures hide,t 

To all but labouring hands denied, 
Lavish of thorns and worthless weeds alone, 

The doom is half in mercy given 

To train us in our way to Heaven, 
And show our lagging souls how glory must be won. 

If on the sinner's outward framej 
God hath impress'd his mark of blame, 
And even our bodies shrink at touch of light, 



* Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over the^ 
f Cursed is the ground for thy sake. 
X I was afraid because I was naked. 



Sexagesima Sunday. 99 

Yet mercy hath not left us bare : 
The very weeds we daily wear* , 

Are to Faith's eye a pledge of God's forgiving might. 

i 

And oh! if yet one arrow more,t 

The sharpest of th' Almighty's store, 
Tremble upon the string — a sinner's death — 

Art Thou not by to soothe and save, 

To lay us gently in the grave, 
To close the weary eye and hush the parting breath ? 

Therefore in sight of man bereft 

The happy garden still was left, 
The fiery sword that guarded, show'd it too, 

Turning all ways, the world to teach, 

That though as yet beyond our reach, 
Still in its place the tree of life and glory grew. 

* The Lord God made coats of skins, and he clothed them. 
| Thou shalt surely die. 



^ttfuquasestma Stmttag* 



I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant be- 
tween me and the earth. Qen. ix. 13. [First Morning Lesson for the day, 
Church of England. J 



[O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without char- 
ity are nothing worth ; send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our 
hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace 
and of all virtues ; without which, whosoever liveth is counted 
dead before thee : grant this for thine only Son, Jesus Christ's 
sake. Amen.'] 

SWEET Dove ! the softest, steadiest plume 

In all the sunbright sky, 
Brightening in ever-changeful bloom 

As breezes change on high ; — 

Sweet Leaf! the pledge of peace and mirth, 
" Long sought, and lately won," 

Bless'd increase of reviving Earth, 
When first it felt the Sun ; — 

Sweet Rainbow ! pride of summer days, 
High set at Heaven's command, 



Quinquagesima Sunday. 101 

Though into drear and dusky haze 
Thou melt on either hand ; — 

Dear tokens of a pardoning God, 

We hail ye, one and all, 
As when our fathers walk'd abroad,* 

Freed from their twelvemonths' thrall. 

How joyful from th' imprisoning ark 

On the green earth they spring ! 
Not blither, after showers, the Lark 

Mounts up with glistening wing. 

So home-bound sailors spring to shore, 

Two oceans safely past; 
So happy souls, when life is o'er, 

Plunge in th' empyreal vast. 

What wins their first and fondest gaze 

In all the blissful field, 
And keeps it through a thousand days ? 

Love face to face re veal' d: 

* [ " When o'er the green undeluged earth, 

Heaven's covenant thou didst shine, 
How came the world's grey fathers forth, 

To watch thy sacred sign. 

" And when its yellow lustre smil'd 

O'er mountains yet untrod, 
Each mother held aloft her child, 

To bless the bow of God." 

Campbell. ] 

H 



102 Quinquagesima Sunday. 

Love imag'd in that cordial look 

Our Lord in Eden bends 
On souls that sin and earth forsook 

In time to die His friends. 

And what most welcome and serene 
Dawns on the Patriarch's eye, 

In all th' emerging hills so green, 
In all the brightening sky ? 

What but the gentle rainbow's gleam , 
Soothing the wearied sight 

That cannot bear the solar beam, 
With soft undazzling light 1 

Lord, if our fathers turn'd to thee 

With such adoring gaze, 
Wondering frail man thy light should see 

Without thy scorching blaze ; 

Where is our love, and where our hearts, 
We who have seen thy Son, 

Have tried thy Spirit's winning arts, 
And yet we are not won ? 

The Son of God in radiance beam'd 
Too bright for us to scan, 

But we may face the rays that stream T d 
From the mild Son of Man. 



Quinquagesima Sunday. 103 

There, parted into rainbow hues, 

In sweet harmonious strife, 
We see celestial love diffuse 

Its light o'er Jesus' life. 

God, by His bow, vouchsafes to write 

This truth in Heaven above ; 
As every lovely hue is Light, 

So every grace is Love.* 

* [ The lines below are not unworthy to be set in Keble's coronet. 

2Be 3Profuntifs. 

" There maybe a cloud without a rainbow, but there cannot be a rainbow 
without a cloud." 

" My soul were dark 
But for the golden light and rainbow hue 
That, sweeping Heaven with their triumphal arc, 

Break on the view. 

" Enough to feel 
That God indeed is good ! enough to know 
Without the gloomy clouds he could reveal 

No beauteous bow." 

Rev. William Croswell. ] 



&3lis£lS?eiruetfm2. 



* 



When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear 
not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret. St. Matthew 
vi. 17. [Gospel for the day.] 



[Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou 
hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent ; 
create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily 
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may 
obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and for- 
giveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord- Amen.] 

" YES— deep within and deeper yet 
" The rankling shaft of conscience hide, 

" Quick let the swelling eye forget 
" The tears that in the heart abide. 



* [ Ash-Wednesday (so called from the custom in the primitive Church, 
of sprinkling ashes on that day on the heads of notorious offenders, who were 
then excommunicated) is the first day of Lent. The season of Lent embraces 
forty days, Sundays not being counted, which the church invites her mem- 
bers to observe with especial seriousness and self-denial, as preparatory to 
the due commemoration of the mournful event of his crucifixion, which is 
celebrated on Good-Friday. The number of days is fixed in especial refer- 
ence to the forty days' fasting of our Lord, just before his temptation. ] 



i 



a 



Ash-Wednesday* 105 

" Calm be the voice, the aspect bold, 
" No shuddering pass o'er lip or brow, 
For why should Innocence be told 
" The pangs that guilty spirits bow? 



' The loving eye that watches thine 
" Close as the air that wraps thee round — 
Why in thy sorrow should it pine, 
" Since never of thy sin it found? 

" And wherefore should the heathen see* 
" What chains of darkness thee enslave, 

" And mocking say, Lo, this is he 

" Who own'd a God that could not save?" 



a 



Thus oft the mourner's wayward heart 

Tempts him to hide his grief and die, 
Too feeble for Confession's smart, 

Too proud to bear a pitying eye ; 
How sweet, in that dark hour, to fall 

On bosoms waiting to receive 
Our sighs, and gently whisper all ! 

They love us — will not God forgive ? 

Else let us keep our fast within, 
Till Heaven and we are quite alone, 

Then let the grief, the shame, the sin, 
Before the mercy-seat be thrown. 

* Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God ! 
Joel ii. 17. 

h2 



106 Ash-Wednesday. 

Between the porch and altar weep, 

Unworthy of the holiest place, 
"X et hoping near the shrine to keep 

One lowly cell in sight of grace. 

Nor fear lest sympathy should fail — 

Hast thou not seen, in night-hours drear, 
When racking thoughts the heart assail, 

The glimmering stars by turns appear, 
And from th' eternal home above 

With silent news of mercy steal ? 
So Angels pause on tasks of love, 

To look where sorrowing sinners kneel. 

Or, if no Angel pass that way, 

He who in secret sees, perchance 
May bid his own heart-warming ray 

Toward thee stream with kindlier glance, 
As when upon His drooping head 

His Father's light was pour'd from Heaven, 
What time, unshelter'd and unfed,* 

Far in the wild His steps were driven. 

High thoughts were with Him in that hour, 
Untold, unspeakable on earth— 

And who can stay the soaring power 
Of spirits wean'd from worldly mirth, 



* St. Matt. iv. 1. 



Ash-Wednesday. 107 

While far beyond the sound of praise 

With upward eye they float serene, 
And learn to bear their Saviour's blaze 

When Judgment shall undraw the screen ? 



jFtrst Sunftag tti &ent 

THE CITY OF REFUGE. 

Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do any thing till thou be come 
thither: therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. Genesis xix. 22. 
[First Morning Lesson for the day, Church of England.] 

[O Lord, who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights, 
give us grace to use such abstinence, that our flesh being sub- 
dued to the Spirit, we may ever obey thy godly motions in right- 
eousness and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest 
and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, 
world without end. Amen.'] 

" ANGEL of wrath ! why linger in mid air, 

" While the devoted city's cry 
" Louder and louder swells? and canst thou spare, 

" Thy full-charg'd vial standing by?" 
Thus, with stern voice, unsparing Justice pleads : 

He hears her not — with soften'd gaze 
His eye is following where sweet Mercy leads, 
And till she give the sign, his fury stays. 



108 First Sunday in Lent, 

Guided by her, along the mountain road, 
Far through the twilight of the morn, 

With hurrying footsteps from th' accurs'd abode 
He sees the holy household borne : 

Angels, or more, on either hand are nigh,* 
To speed them o'er the tempting plain, 

Lingering in heart, and with frail sidelong eye 

Seeking how near they may unharm'd remain. 

" Ah wherefore gleam those upland slopes so fair? 

" And why, through every woodland arch, 
" Swells yon bright vale, as Eden rich and rare, 

" Where Jordan winds his stately march ; 
" If all must be forsaken, ruin'd all, 

" If God have planted but to burn? — 
" Surely not yet th' avenging shower will fall, 
" Though to my home for one last look I turn." 

Thus while they waver, surely long ago 

They had provoked the withering blast, 

But that the merciful Avengers know 

Their frailty well, and hold them fast. 

" Haste, for thy life escape, nor look behind" — 
Ever in thrilling sounds like these 

They check the wandering eye, severely kind, 

Nor let the sinner lose his soul at ease. 

* [ The family of Lot, led out of Sodom. The expression, "angels, or 
more" (angels, or greater than they), has reference, probably, to the "angel 
of the covenant," spoken of in the Old Testament, and generally understood 
as a manifestation of the Son of God. ] 



First Sunday in Lent. 1 09 

And when, o'erwearied with the steep ascent, 

We for a nearer refuge crave, 
One little spot of ground in mercy lent, 

One hour of home before the grave, 
Oft in his pity o'er his children weak, 

His hand withdraws the penal fire, 
And where we fondly cling, forbears to wreak 
Full vengeance, till our hearts are wean'd entire. 

Thus, by the merits of one righteous man, 

The Church, our Zoar, shall abide, 
Till she abuse, so sore, her lengthen' d span, 

Even Mercy's self her face must hide. 
Then, onward yet a step, thou hard-won soul; 

Though in the Church thou know thy place. 
The mountain farther lies — there seek thy goal, 
There breathe at large, o'erpast thy dangerous race. 

Siveet is the smile of home; the mutual look 

When hearts are of each other sure; 
Sweet all the joys that crowd the household nooh y 

The haunt of all affections pure ; 
Yet in the world even these abide, and we 

Above the world our calling boast : 
Once gain the mountain top, and thou art free : 
Till then, who rest, presume ; who turn to look, are lost.* 

* [ Escape for thy life : look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the 

plain : escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed But his wife 

looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Qenesis 
xix. 17, 26. ] 



Stcontr Suntrau in Sent 



ESAU S FORFEIT. 

And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and 
exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Biess me, even me also, O my 
father. Gen. xxvii. 34. (Compare Hebrews xii. 17. He found no place for 
repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears).* [First Morning Les- 
son for the day, Church of England.] 



[Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves 
to help ourselves; keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and in- 
wardly in our souls ; that we may be defended from all adversi- 
ties which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts 
which may assault and hurt the soul, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen.] 

6i AND is there in God's world so drear a place 
" Where the loud bitter cry is raisM in vain? 



* The author earnestly hopes, that nothing in these stanzas will be un- 
derstood to express any opinion as to the general efficacy of what is called 
" a death-bed repentance." Such questions are best left in the merciful ob- 
scurity with which Seripture has enveloped them. Esau's probation, as far 
as his birthright was concerned, was quite over when he uttered the cry in 
the text. His despondency therefore is not parallel to any thing on this side 
the grave. 



Second Sunday in Lent. Ill 

" Where tears of penance come too late for grace, 
"As on th' uprooted flower the genial rain?" 

'Tis even so : the sovereign Lord of souls 
Stores in the dungeon of his boundless realm 

Each bolt, that o'er the sinner vainly rolls, 
With gather'd wrath the reprobate to whelm, 

Will the storm hear the sailor's piteous cry,* 
Taught to mistrust, too late, the tempting wave, 

When all around he sees but sea and sky, 
A God in anger, a self-chosen grave? 

Or will the thorns, that strew intemperance' bed,t 
Turn with a wish to down ? will late remorse 

Recall the shaft the murderer's hand has sped, 
Or from the guiltless bosom turn its course ? 

Then may th' unbodied soul in safety fleet 
Through the dark curtains of the world above, 

Fresh from the stain of crime ; nor fear to meet 
The God, whom here she would not learn to love: 

Then is there hope for such as die unblest, 
That angel wings may waft them to the shore, 

* Compare Bishop Butler's Analogy, p. 54—64, ed. 1736. 

t [ " Consider, then, people ruin their fortunes hy extravagance ; they 
bring diseases upon themselves hy excess j they incur the penalties of civil 
laws: will sorrow for these follies past, and hehavingwell for the future, 
alone and of itself, prevent the natural consequences of them ?" Butler's 
Analogy, part ii. c. v. sec. 4. ] 



112 Second Sunday in Lent. 

Nor need th' unready virgin strike her breast, 

Nor wait desponding round the bridegroom's door. 

But where is then the stay of contrite hearts ? 

Of old they lean'd on thy eternal word, <• 
But with the sinner's fear their hope departs, 

Fast link'd as thy great Name to Thee, Lord : 

That Name, by which thy faithful oath is past, 
That we should endless be, for joy or woe: — 

And if the treasures of thy wrath could waste, 
Thy lovers must their promis'd Heaven forego. 

But ask of elder days, earth's vernal hour, 
When in familiar talk God's voice was heard, 

When at the Patriarch's call the fiery shower 
Propitious o'er the turf-built shrine appear'd. 

Watch by our father Isaac's pastoral door — 
The birthright sold, the blessing lost and won, 

Tell, Heaven has wrath that can relent no more, 
The Grave, dark deeds that cannot be undone. 

We barter life for pottage ; sell true bliss, 

For wealth or power, for pleasure or renown ; 

Thus, Esau-like, our Father's blessing miss, 
Then wash with fruitless tears our faded crown. 

Our faded crown, despis'd and flung aside, 
Shall on some brother's brow immortal bloom, 



Second Sunday in Lent, 113 

No partial hand the blessing may misguide ; 

No flattering fancy change our Monarch's doom : 

His righteous doom, that meek true-hearted Love 
The everlasting birthright should receive, 

The softest dews drop on her from above,* 

The richest green her mountain garland weave ; 

Her brethren, mightiest, wisest, eldest born, 
Bow to her sway, and move at her behest : 

Isaac's fond blessing may not fall on scorn, 

Nor Balaam's curse on Love, which God hath blest. 

* Genesis xxvii. 27, 28. 



2Ftotfy Stwirag in %tnt 



THE SPOILS OF SATAN. 



When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But 
when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh 
from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoil. St. Luke 
xi. 91, 22. [Gospel for the day.] 



[We beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty de- 
sires of thy humble servants, and stretch forth the right hand of 
thy Majesty, to be our defence against all our enemies, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Jlmen.] 

SEE Lucifer like lightning fall 

Dash'd from his throne of pride ; 
While, answering Thy victorious call, 
The Saints his spoils divide, 
This world of thine, by him usurp'd too long, 
Now opening all her stores to heal thy servants' wrong. 

So when the first-born of thy foes 

Dead in the darkness lay, 
When thy redeem'd at midnight rose 

Aiad cast their bonds away, 



Third Sunday in Lent. 115 

The orphan' d realm threw wide her gates, and told 
Into freed Israel's lap her jewels and her gold. 

And when their wondrous march was o'er, 

And they had won their homes, 
Where Abraham fed his flock of yore, 
Among their fathers' tombs ;— 
A land that drinks the rain of heaven at will, 
Whose waters kiss the feet of many a vine-clad hill ; — 

Oft as they watcn'd, at thoughtful eve, 

A gale from bowers of balm 
Sweep o'er the billowy corn, and heave 
The tresses of the palm, 
Just as the lingering Sun had touch' d with gold, 
Far o'er the cedar shade, some tower of giants old ; 

It was a fearful joy, I ween, 

To trace the Heathen's toil, 
The limpid wells, the orchards green 
Left ready for the spoil, 
The househould stores untouch'd, the roses bright 
Wreath'd o'er the cottage walls in garlands of delight.* 

And now another Canaan yields 
To thine all-conquering ark; — 



* [ A most lovely picture of the natural and domestic beauties of the 
land upon which, as on Eden before, sin had brought down the curse. It is 
here most skilfully introduced to heighten the contrast. ] 



116 Third Sunday in Lent, 

Fly from the " old poetic" fields,* 
Ye Paynim shadows dark! 
Immortal Greece, dear land of glorious lays, 
Lo ! here the " unknown God" of thy unconscious 
praise !f 

The olive wreath, the ivied wand, 
" The sword in myrtles drest,"± 
Each legend of the shadowy strand 
Now wakes a vision blest: 
As little children lisp, and tell of Heaven, 
So thoughts beyond their thought to those high Bards 
were given. 

And these are ours ; Thy partial grace 

The tempting treasure lends : 
These relics of a guilty race 
Are forfeit to thy friends : 
What seem'd an idol hymn, now breathes of Thee, 
Tun'd by Faith's ear to some celestial melody. 

* Where each old poetic mountain 
Inspiration breathed around. 

Gray. 
| [ As I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with 
this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Acts xvii. 23. J 
J [ The famous Athenian drinking song, by Callistratus : — 

" I'll wreathe my sword with myrtle as the brave Harmodius did, 
And as Aristogeiton his avenging weapon hid, 
When they slew the haughty tyrant, and regained our liberty, 
And breaking down oppression, made the men of Athens free." 

G. W. D. ] 



Third Sunday in Lent. 117 

There's not a strain to Memory dear* 

Nor flower in classic grove, 

There's not a sweet note warbled here, 

■ 
But minds us of thy Love. 

O Lord, our Lord, and spoiler of our foes, 

There is no light but thine : with Thee all beauty glows. 



iFmtrtii StwSag in 2Lent 

THE ROSE BUD. 

Joseph made haste, for his bowels did yearn upon his brother ; and he 
sought where to weep ; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there. 
Gen. xliii. 30. [First Lesson, Morning service, Church of England.] 

There stood no man with them, while Joseph made himself known unto his 
brethren. Gen. xlv. 1. [First Lesson, Evening service, Church of England. 



[Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our 
evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of 
thy grace may mercifully be relieved, through our Lord and Sa- 
viour, Jesus Christ. Amen.'] 

WHEN Nature tries her finest touch, 
Weaving her vernal wreath, 

* See Burns's Works, i. 293, Dr. Currie's edition. 

[ " There's not a bonnie flower that springs 

By fountain, shaw or green, 
There's not a bonnie bird that sings, 

But minds me o' my Jean." ] 
i2 



118 Fourth Sunday in Lent. 

Mark ye, how close she veils her round, 
Not to be trac'd by sight or sound, 
Nor soil'd by ruder breath? 

Who ever saw the earliest rose 

First open her sweet breast? 
Or, when the summer sun goes down, 
The first soft star in evening's crown 
Light up her gleaming crest? 

Fondly we seek the dawning bloom 
On features wan and fair,— 

The gazing eye no change can trace, 

But look away a little space, 

Then turn, and, lo ! 'tis there. 

But there's a sweeter flower than e'er 

Blush' d on the rosy spray — 
A brighter star, a richer bloom 
Than e'er did western heaven illume 
At close of summer day. 

'Tis Love, the last best gift of Heaven ; 

Love gentle, holy, pure : 
But, tenderer than a dove's soft eye, 
The searching sun, the open sky 

She never could endure. 

Even human Love will shrink from sight 
Here in the coarse rude earth : 



Fourth Sunday in Lent. 119 

How then should rash intruding glance 
Break in upon her sacred trance 
Who boasts a heavenly birth 1 

So still and secret is her growth, 

Ever the truest heart, 
Where deepest strikes her kindly root 
For hope or joy, for flower or fruit, 

Least knows its happy part. 

God only, and good angels, look 

Behind the blissful screen — 
As when, triumphant o'er his woes, 
The Son of God by moonlight rose,* 

By all but Heaven unseen : 

As when the holy Maid beheld 

Her risen Son and Lord : 
Thought has not colours half so fair 
That she to paint that hour may dare, 

In silence best ador'd. 

The gracious Dove, that brought from Heaven 

The earnest of our bliss, 
Of many a chosen witness telling, 
On many a happy vision dwelling, 

Sings not a note of this. 



* [ It was at the time of the Paschal full moon that the Saviour rose 
from the dead. ] 



120 Fourth Sunday in Lent. 

So, truest image of the Christ, 
Old Israel's long-lost son, 
What time, with sweet forgiving cheer, 
He call'd his conscious brethren near, 
Would weep with them alone. 

He could not trust his melting soul 

But in his Maker's sight — 
Then why should gentle hearts and true 
Bare to the rude world's withering view 
Their treasure of delight ! 

No — let the dainty rose awhile 

Her bashful fragrance hide — 
Rend not her silken veil too soon, 
But leave her, in her own soft noon, 
To flourish and abide. 



... 



* 



jFitth Stwtiag in 3Lznt 



THE BURNING BUSH. 



And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the 
bush is not burned. Exodus iii. 3. [First Lesson, Morning service, Church 
of England.] 



[We beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy 
people ; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and 
preserved evermore, both in body and soul, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. J3men.'] 

TH' historic Muse, from age to age, 
Thro' many a waste heart-sickening page 

Hath trac'd the works of Man : 
But a celestial call to-day- 
Stays her, like Moses, on her way, 

The works of God to scan. 

Far seen across the sandy wild, 
Where, like a solitary child, 

He thoughtless roam'd and free, 



II 



122 Fifth Sunday in Lent. 

One towering thorn* was wrapt in flame — 
Bright without blaze it went and came : 
Who would not turn and see ? 

Along the mountain ledges green 
The scatter' d sheep at will may glean 

The Desert's spicy stores : 
The while, with undivided heart, 
The shepherd talks with God apart, 

And, as he talks, adores. 

Ye too, who tend Christ's wildering flock, 
Well may ye gather round the rock 

That once was Sion's hill : 
To watch the fire upon the mount 
Still blazing, like the solar fount, 

Yet unconsuming still. 

Caught from that blaze by wrath divine, 
Lost branches of the once-lov'd vine, 

Now wither'd, spent, and sere, 
See Israel's sons, like glowing brands, 
Tost wildly o'er a thousand lands 

For twice a thousand year. 

God will not quench nor slay them quite, 
But lifts them like a beacon light 
Th' apostate Church to scare : 

* " Seneh :" said to be a sort of Acacia. 



Fifth Sunday in Lent. 123 

Or like pale ghosts that darkling roam, 
Hovering around their ancient home, 
But find no refuge there. 

Ye blessed Angels ! if of you 

There be, who love the ways to view 

Of Kings and Kingdoms here ; 
(And sure, 'tis worth an Angel's gaze, 
To see, throughout that dreary maze, 

God teaching love and fear:) 

say, in all the bleak expanse, 
Is there a spot to win your glance, 

So bright, so dark as this ? 
A hopeless faith, a homeless race,* 
Yet seeking the most holy place, 

And owning the true bliss ! 

Salted with fire they seemt to show 
How spirits lost in endless woe 

May undecaying live. 
Oh sickening thought ! yet hold it fast 
Long as this glittering world shall last, 

Or sin at heart survive. 

* [ The Jews, alluded to in these lines, " a nation scattered and peeled," 
without a home in the whole world, of which, as the peculiar people of God, 
they were once the favoured heirs. Without a temple, without a sacrifice, 
without a priest,— how fearfully and wonderfully do they fulfil the old pro- 
phetic record ! How literally is His blood upon them, and upon their chil- 
dren! ] 

t St. Mark ix. 49. 



124 Fifth Sunday in Lent, 

And hark ! amid the flashing fire, 
Mingling with tones of fear and ire, 

Soft Mercy's undersong — 
'Tis Abraham's God who speaks so loud, 
His people's eries have pierc'd the cloud, 

He sees, He sees their wrong;* 

He is come down to break their chain ; 
Though never more on Sion's fane 

His visible ensign wave ; 
'Tis Sion, wheresoe'er they dwell, 
Who, with His own true Israel, 

Shall own Him strong to save. 

He shall redeem them one by one, 
Where'er the world-encircling sun 

Shall see them meekly kneel : 
A.11 that he asks on Israel's part, 
Is only, that the captive heart 

Its woe and burthen feel. 

Gentiles ! with fix'd yet awful eye 
Turn ye this page of mystery, 

Nor slight the warning sound : 
" Put off thy shoes from off thy feet — 
" The place where man his God shall meet, 

" Be sure, is holy ground." 

* Exod. iii. 7, 8. 



THE CHILDREN IN THE TEMPLE. 

And He answered and said unto them, I tell you, that if these should 
hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. St. Luke xix. 40. 



[Almighty and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love to- 
wards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to 
take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that 
all mankind should follow the example of his great humility ; 
mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his 
patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection, through 
the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

YE whose hearts are beating high 
With the pulse of Poesy, 
Heirs of more than royal race, 
Fram'd by Heaven's peculiar grace, 
God's own work to do on earth, 
(If the word be not too bold) 

* [ The Sunday next before Easter, so called in reference to the palm 
branches thrown before our Saviour on his way to Jerusalem, five days be- 
fore his crucifixion. ] 

K 



126 Palm Sunday, 

Giving virtue a new birth, 

And a life that ne'er grows old — - 

Sovereign masters of all hearts ! 
Know ye, who hath set your parts ? 
He who gave you breath to sing, 
By whose strength ye sweep the stringy 
He hath chosen you, to lead 

His Hosannas here below ; — 
Mount, and claim your glorious meed ; 

Linger not with sin and woe. 

But if ye should hold your peace, 
Deem not that the song would cease — 
Angels round His glory-throne, 
Stars, his guiding hand that own, 
Flowers, that grow beneath our feet, 

Stones in earth's dark womb that rest, 
High and low in choir shall meet, 

Ere His Name shall be unblest. 

Lord, by every minstrel tongue 
Be thy praise so duly sung, 
That thine angels' harps may ne'er 
Fail to find fit echoing here : 
We the while, of meaner birth, 

Who in that divinest spell 
Dare not hope to join on earth, 

Give us grace to listen well. 



Palm Sunday. 127 

But should thankless silence seal 
Lips, that might half Heaven reveal, 
Should bards in idol-hymns profane 
The sacred soul-enthralling strain 
(As in this bad world below 

Noblest things find vilest using), 
Then, thy power and mercy show, 

In vile things noble breath infusing ; 

• Then waken into sound divine 
The very pavement of thy shrine, 
Till we, like Heaven's star-sprinkled floor, 
Faintly give back what we adore. 
Childlike though the voices be, 

And untunable the parts, 
Thou wilt own the minstrelsy, 

If it flow from childlike hearts. 



* 



J&ouiiag More 25aster. 

CHRIST WAITING FOR THE CROSS. 

Doubtless Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us? and 
Israel acknowledge us not. Isaiah lxiii. 16. {Portion of Scripture appointed 
for the Epistle in the Service for the day.] 

" FATHER to me Thou art and Mother dear, 
" And Brother too, kind husband of my heart"* — 

So speaks Andromache in boding fear, 
Ere from her last embrace her hero part — ■ 

So evermore? by Faith's undying glow, 

We own the Crucified in weal or woe. 

Strange to our ears the church-bells of our home, 

The fragrance of our old paternal fields 
May be forgotten ; and the time may come 

When the babe's kiss no sense of pleasure yields 

* [ " Yet while my Hector still survives, I see 
My father, mother, brethren all in thee : 
Alas ! my parents, brothers, kindred, all 
Once more will perish, if my Hector fall." 

Iliad vi. 429. Pope's Version vi. 544. ] 



... 



Monday before Easter. 129 

Even to the doting mother: but thine own 
Thou never canst forget, nor leave alone. 

There are who sigh that no fond heart is theirs, 
None loves them best — O vain and seliish sigh ! 

Out of the bosom of His love He spares— 
The Father spares the Son, for thee to die : 

For thee He died — for thee He lives again : 

O'er thee He watches in His boundless reign. 

Thou art as much His care, as if beside 

Nor man nor angel liv'd in heaven or earth : 

Thus sunbeams pour alike their glorious tide 
To light up worlds, or wake an insect's mirth : 

They shine and shine with unexhausted store — 

Thou art thy Saviour's darling — seek no more. 

On thee and thine, thy warfare and thine end, 
Even in His hour of agony He thought, 

When, ere the final pang His soul should rend, 
The ransom'd spirits one by one were brought 

To his mind's eye — two silent nights and days* 

In calmness for His far-seen hour He stays. 

Ye vaulted cells where martyr'd seers of old 
Far in the rocky walls of Sion sleep, 



* la Passion week, from Tuesday evening to Thursday evening : during 
which time Scripture seems to be nearly silent concerning our Saviour's 
proceedings. 

k2 



130 Monday before Easter. 

Green terraces and arched fountains cold, 

Where lies the cypress shade so still and deep, 
Dear sacred haunts of glory and of woe, 
Help us, one hour, to trace His musings high and low : 

One heart-ennobling hour ! It may not be 

Th' unearthly thoughts have pass'd from earth away, 
And fast as evening sunbeams from the sea 

Thy footsteps all in Sion's deep decay 
Were blotted from the holy ground : yet dear 
Is every stone of hers ; for Thou wast surely here.* 

There is a spot within this sacred dale 

That felt Thee kneeling; — touch' d thy prostrate brow : 

* [ " 'Tis sweet to Him who treasures love divine, 

The coasts with zeal of palmer old to trace, 
Hills, vales and streams of holy Palestine, 

And mark in every ancient hallowed place 
What rays of glory wont of old to shine, 

What acts of wonder, and what words of grace : 
How here the mourner heard glad news of rest, 
Here the deaf ear the Saviour's presence blest, 
The sightless eye beheld, the speechless tongue confest. 

" And sweet to them whose bounded lot at home 

Constrains their steps in quietude to stray, 
Yea, sweet it is to them, afar to roam 

In thought, companions of the palmer's way, 
And to the mother land of Christendom, 

The debt of more than patriot fondness pay, — 
If Judah's palmy hills their sojourn be, 
Or Jordan's flood, or lone Tiberias sea, 
Or thy once glorious towns, thrice favoured Galilee ?" 

Bishop JWant, Gospel Miracles, p. 120. ] 



,. 



Monday before Easter. 131 

One angel knows it. O might prayer avail 

To win that knowledge ! sure each holy vow 
Less quickly from th' unstable soul would fade, 
Offer'd where Christ in agony was laid. 

Might tear of ours once mingle with the blood 
That from His aching brow by moonlight fell, 

Over the mournful joy our thoughts would brood, 
Till they had fram'd within a guardian spell 

To chase repining fancies, as they rise, 

Like birds of evil wing, to mar our sacrifice. 

So dreams the heart self-flattering, fondly dreams ; — 
Else wherefore, when the bitter waves o'erflow, 

Miss we the light, Gethsemane, that streams 
From thy dear name, where in His page of woe 

It shines, a pale kind star in winter's sky? 

Who vainly reads it there, in vain had seen Him die. 



SFttestrag More JBmttv. 



CHRIST REFUSING THE WINE AND MYRRH. 



They gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh : but he received it not. 
St. Mark xv. 23. [Gospel for the day.] 



" FILL high the bowl, and spice it well, and pour 
" The dews oblivious : for the Cross is sharp, 

" The Cross is sharp, and He 

" Is tenderer than a lamb. 

" He wept by Lazarus' grave — how will He bear 
" This bed of anguish? and His pale weak form 

" Is worn with many a watch 

" Of sorrow and unrest. 

" His sweat last night was as great drops of blood, 
" And the sad burthen press'd him so to earth, 

" The very torturers paus'd 

" To help Him on His way. 

" Fill high the bowl, benumb His aching sense 
" With medicin'd sleep." — awful in thy woe! 






, 



Tuesday before Easter. 133 

The parching thirst of death 
Is on Thee, and thou triest 

The slumberous potion bland, and wilt not drink : 
Not sullen, nor in scorn, like haughty man 

With suicidal hand 

Putting his solace by : 

But as at first thine all-pervading look 
Saw from thy Father's bosom to th' abyss, 

Measuring in calm presage 

The infinite descent; 

So to the end, though now of mortal pangs 
Made heir, and emptied of thy glory' awhile, 

With unaverted eye 

Thou meetest all the storm. 

Thou wilt feel all, that Thou may'st pity all ;* 
And rather wouldst Thou wrestle with strong pain, 

Than overcloud thy soul, 

So clear in agony, 

Or lose one glimpse of Heaven before the time. 
most entire and perfect sacrifice, 

Renew'd in every pulse 

That on the tedious Cross 



* [ " For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to 
succour them also that are tempted." Hebrews ii. 18. ] 



134 Tuesday before Easter. 

Told the long hours of death, as, one by one, 
The life strings of that tender heart gave way ; 

Even sinners, taught by Thee, 

Look Sorrow in the face, 

And bid her freely welcome, unbeguil'd 
By false kind solaces, and spells of earth : — 

And yet not all unsooth'd ; 

For when was Joy so dear, 

As the deep calm that breath'd, " Father, forgive" 
Or, " Be with me in Paradise to-day?" 

And, though the strife be sore, 

Yet in His parting breath 

Love masters agony; the soul that seem'd 
Forsaken, feels her present God again, 

And in her Father's arms 

Contented dies away. 



TOetrtiestrag Mow IBmttv, 



CHRIST IN THE GARDEN. 



.Saying, Father, if thou he willing, remove this cup from me : nevertheless, 
not my will, but thine be done. St . Luke xxii. 42. [Gospel for the day.] 



LORD my God, do Thou thy holy will— 

I will lie still — 

1 will not stir, lest I forsake thine arm, 

And break the charm, 
AVhich lulls me, clinging to my Father's breast, 
In perfect rest. 

Wild Fancy, peace ! thou must not me beguile 

With thy false smile : 
I know thy flatteries and thy cheating ways ; 

Be silent, Praise, 
Blind guide with siren voice, and blinding all 

That hear thy call. 

Come, Self-devotion, high and pure, 
Thoughts that in thankfulness endure, 



136 Wednesday before Easter. 

Though dearest hopes are faithless found, 
And dearest hearts are bursting round. 
Come, Resignation, spirit meek, 
And let me kiss thy placid cheek, 
.And read in thy pale eye serene 
Their blessing, who by faith can wean 
Their hearts from sense, and learn to love 
God only, and the joys above. 

They say, who know the life divine, 

And upward gaze with eagle eyne, 

That by each golden crown on high,* 

Rich with celestial jewelry, 

Which for our Lord's redeem'd is set, 

There hangs a radiant coronet, 

All gemm'd with pure and living light, 

Too dazzling for a sinner's sight, 

Prepar'd for virgin souls, and them 

Who seek the martyr's diadem. 

Nor deem, who to that bliss aspire, 
Must win their way through blood and fire. 
The writhings of a wounded heart 
Are fiercer than a foeman's dart. 



* That little coronet or special reward which God hath prepared 

(extraordinary and besides the great Crown of all faithful souls) for those 
" who have not denied themselves with women, but follow the (virgin) 
Lamb for ever." Bishop Taylor, Holy Living, c. xi. sect. 3 



Wednesday before Easter. 137 

Oft in Life's stillest shade reclining, 
In Desolation unrepining, 
Without a hope on earth to find 
A mirror in an answering mind, 
Meek souls there are, who little dream 
Their daily strife an Angel's theme, 
Or that the rod they take so calm 
Shall prove in Heaven a martyr's palm. 

And there are souls that seem to dwell 

Above this earth — so rich a spell 

Floats round their steps, where'er they move, 

From hopes fulfill' d and mutual love. 

Such, if on high their thoughts are set, 

Nor in the stream the source forget, 

If prompt to quit the bliss they know, 

Following the Lamb where'er He go, 

By purest pleasures unbeguil'd 

To idolize or wife or child; 

Such wedded souls our God shall own 

For faultless virgins round His throne. 

Thus every where we find our suffering God, 

And where He trod 
May set our steps : the Cross on Calvary 

Uplifted high 
Beams on the martyr host, a beacon light 

In open fight. 

L 



138 Wednesday before Easter. 

To the still wrestlings of the lonely heart 

He doth impart 
The virtue of His midnight agony, 

When none was nigh, 
Save God and one good angel, to assuage 

The tempest's rage. 

Mortal ! if life smile on thee, and thou find 

All to thy mind, 
Think, who did once from Heaven to Hell descend 

Thee to befriend : 
So shalt thou dare forego, at His dear call, 

Thy best, thine all. 

" Father! not my will, but thine be done" — 

So spake the Son. 
Be this our charm, mellowing Earth's ruder noise 

Of griefs and joys; 
That we may cling for ever to thy breast 

In perfect rest ! 



Sftttttfrag before faster. 



THE VISION OF THE LATTER DAYS. 



At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I 
am come to show thee, for thou art greatly beloved ; therefore understand the 
matter, and consider the vision. Daniel ix. 23. [First Morning Lesson, 
Church of England.] 



" O HOLY mountain of my God, 

" How do thy towers in ruin lie, 
"How art thou riven and strewn abroad, 

" Under the rude and wasteful sky !" 
'Twas thus upon his fasting-day 
The " Man of Loves" was fain to pray,* 
His lattice opent toward his darling west, 
Mourning the ruin'd home he still must love the best. 

Oh for a love like Daniel's now, 

To wing to Heaven but one strong prayer 



* [ " O Daniel, a man greatly beloved :" Hebrew, a man of desires, or 
loves. Daniel x. 11. ] 
f Daniel vi. 10. 



140 Thursday before Easter, 

For God's new Israel, sunk as low, 

Yet flourishing to sight as fair, 
As Sion in her height of pride, 
With queens for handmaids at her side, 
With kings her nursing-fathers, throned high, 
And compass'd with the world's too tempting blazonry. 

'Tis true, nor winter stays thy growth, 

Nor torrid summer's sickly smile ; 
The flashing billows of the south 

Break not upon so lone an isle, 
But thou, rich vine, art grafted there, 
The fruit of death or life to bear, 
Yielding a surer witness every day, 
To thine Almighty Author, and his steadfast sway. 

Oh grief to think, that grapes of gall 

Should cluster round thine healthiest shoot! 
God's herald prove a heartless thrall, 

Who, if he dar'd, would fain be mute ! 
Even such is this bad world we see, 
Which, self-condemn' d in owning Thee, 
Yet dares not open farewell of Thee take, 
For very pride, and her high-boasted Reason's sake. 

What do we then ? if far and wide 

Men kneel to Christ, the pure and meek, 

Yet rage with passion, swell with pride, 
Have we not still our faith to seek ? 



. L 



Thursday before Easter. 141 

Nay — but 'in steadfast humbleness 
Kneel on to Him, who loves to bless 
The prayer that waits for Him ; and trembling strive 
To keep the lingering flame in thine own breast alive. 

Dark frown'd the future even on him. 

The loving and beloved Seer, 
What time he saw, through shadows dim, 

The boundary of th' eternal year ; 
He only of the sons of men 
Nam'd to be heir of glory then.* 

* Dan. xii. 13. See Bishop KeniTs Sermon on the Character of Daniel. 

[ " All these wonderful vouchsafements from above to Daniel, though they 
were most illustrious demonstrations that he was greatly beloved, yet they 
were indulged him for the sake of others, as well as for his own. There is 
therefore one more illustrious than all these, and that is a favour which God 
bestows on but very few, and on none but great saints, who are greatly be- 
loved ; and not usually on them, till near their death, and is the very top 
blessing of which man is capable in this life, the highest bliss on this side 
of heaven ; and that is an absolute assurance of a glorious immortality ; and 
such an assurance as this, had the beloved Daniel .• for the angel, having dis- 
coursed to him of the resurrection of those that sleep in the dust and of their 
awaking to everlasting life, adds, Go thy way till the end be : for thou shalt 
rest, and stand in the lot at the end of the days. O the unutterable felicity of 
this man, thus greatly beloved by God! whilst the generality of saints sigii 
under their flesh and blood, which clogs, and loads, and depresses them ; 
whilst the penitent are still begging their pardon, and the humble full of fears 
and misgivings, by reason of their numerous failin gs ; whilst the best of them 
all see heaven only through a glass darkly, and at a distance, and can reach no 
higher in this world than hope, and desire, and reliance on God's promise, 
and patient expectation ; Daniel, the man greatly beloved, has an angel sent 
on purpose by God, to assure him of his lot in a glorious eternity, and that 
his mansion there was prepared and brightened to receive him. And yet this 
is not all, Daniel was not only assured of future glory, but of a greater degree 

L 2 



142 Thursday before Easter. 

Else had it bruis'd too sore his tender heart 
To see God's ransom'd world in wrath and flame de- 
part. 

Then look no more : or closer watch 

Thy course in Earth's bewildering ways, 
For every glimpse thine eye can catch 

Of what shall be in those dread days : 
So when th' Archangel's word is spoken, 
And Death's deep trance for ever broken, 
In mercy thou may'st feel the heavenly hand, 
And in thy lot unharm'd before thy Saviour stand.* 

of glory than others had : for having made it his great business here below 
to love God himself, and greatly to love him, and to excite others to love God 
as greatly as he loved him, he was to have a more sublime exaltation in bliss 
than ordinary ; the greater his love was, the nearer was he to be seated to 
the throne of God his beloved; and having turned many to righteousness, he 
was to shine as the stars for ever and ever." — A Short Account of the Life of 
the Rt. Rev. Father in God, Thomas Kenn, D.D. By W. Hawkins, Esq. 
London, 1713, 12mo. ] 

* Dan. xii. 13. Thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the 
days. 



€£oo* JFrOrag; 



He is despised and rejected of men. Isaiah liii. 3. [First Evening Les- 
son.] 



[Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy 
family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be be- 
trayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer 
death upon the cross, who now liveth and reigneth with thee and 
the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. 

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body 
of the Church is governed and sanctified ; receive our supplica- 
tions and prayers, which we offer before thee for all estates of 
men in thy holy Church, that every member of the same, in his 
vocation and ministry, may truly and godly serve thee, through 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. 

O merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing 
that thou hast made, nor desirest the death of a sinner, but rather 
that he should be converted and live ; have mercy upon all Jews, 
Turks, Infidels and Heretics ; and take from them all ignorance, 
hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word ; and so fetch them 
home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may be saved among 



* [ The most solemn fast of the Christian Church, observed in com- 
memoration of her Saviour's Crucifixion, making atonement for the sins of 
men. ] 



144 Good Friday, 

the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under 
one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth 
with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. 
Jlmen.~\ 

IS it not strange, the darkest hour 

That ever dawn'd on sinful earth, 
Should touch the heart with softer power 
For comfort, than an angel's mirth ? 
That to the Cross the mourner's eye should turn 
Sooner than where the stars of Christmas burn ? 

Sooner than where the Easter sun 

Shines glorious on yon open grave, 
And to and fro the tidings run, 

" Who died to heal, is ris'n to save." 
Sooner than where upon the Saviour's friends 
The very Comforter in light and love descends. 

Yet so it is : for duly there 

The bitter herbs of earth are set, 
Till temper'd by the Saviour's prayer, 
And with the Saviour's life-blood wet, 
They turn to sweetness, and drop holy balm, 
Soft as imprison'd martyr's deathbed calm. 

All turn to sweet — but most of all 

That bitterest to the lip of pride, 
When hopes presumptuous fade and fall, 

Or Friendship scorns us, duly tried, 



Good Friday. 145 

Or Love, the flower that closes up for fear 
When rude and selfish spirits breathe too near. 

Then like a long-forgotten strain 

Comes sweeping o'er the heart forlorn 
What sunshine hours had taught in vain 
Of Jesus suffering shame and scorn, 
As in all lowly hearts he suffers still, 
While we triumphant ride and have the world at will. 

His pierced hands in vain would hide 
His face from rude reproachful gaze, 
His ears are open to abide 

The wildest storm the tongue can raise, 
He who with one rough word,* some early day,t 
Their idol world and them shall sweep for aye away. 

But we by Fancy may assuage 

The festering sore by Fancy made, 
Down in some lonely hermitage 
Like wounded pilgrims safely laid, 
Where gentlest breezes whisper souls distress'd, 
That Love yet lives, and Patience shall find rest. 



* Wisdom of Solomon xii. 9. 

f [ " Nevertheless, even those thou sparedst as men, and didst send wasps, 
forerunners of thine host, to destroy them by little and little. Not that thou 
wast unable to bring the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle, or 
to destroy them at once with cruel beasts, or with one rough -word ; but exe- 
cuting thy judgments upon them by little and little, thou ga vest them place 
of repentance." Wisdom of Solomon xii. 8, 9, 10. J 



146 Good Friday. 

Oh shame beyond the bitterest thought 

That evil spirit ever fram'd, 
That sinners know what Jesus wrought, 
Yet feel their haughty hearts untam'd — 
That souls in refuge, holding by the Cross, 
Should wince and fret at this world's little loss. 

Lord of my heart, by thy last cry, 

Let not thy blood on earth be spent — 
Lo, at thy feet I fainting lie, 

Mine eyes upon thy wounds are bent, 
Upon thy streaming wounds my weary eyes 
Wait like the parched earth on April skies. 

Wash me, and dry these bitter tears, 

let my heart no further roam, 
'Tis thine by vows, and hopes, and fears, 
Long since— call thy wanderer home ; 
To that dear home, safe in Thy wounded side, 
Where only broken hearts their sin and shame may hide. 



ZBunttv 2£te. 



As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prison- 
ers out of the pit wherein is no water. Zech. ix. 11. [First J\Iorning Les- 
son.] 



[Grant, O Lord, that as we are baptized into the death of thy 
blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, so by continual mortifying 
our corrupt affections, we maybe buried with him; and that 
through the grave and gate of death we may pass to our joyful 
resurrection, for his merits, who died, and was buried, and rose 
again for us, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, ^mew.] 

AT length the worst is o'er, and Thou art laid 

Deep in thy darksome bed ; 
All still and cold beneath yon dreary stone 

Thy sacred form is gone ; 
Around those lips where power and mercy hung, 

The dews of death have clung; 
The dull earth o'er Thee, and thy foes around, 
Thou sleep' st a silent corse, in funeral fetters wound. 

Sleep'st Thou indeed? or is thy spirit fled, 
At large among the dead ? 



L 



148 Easter Eve. 

Whether in Eden bowers thy welcome voice 

Wake Abraham to rejoice, 
Or in some drearier scene thine eye controls 

The thronging band of souls ;'* 
That, as thy blood won earth, thine agony 
Might set the shadowy realm from sin and sorrow free. 

Where'er Thou roam'st, one happy soul, we know,t 

Seen at thy side in woe4 
Waits on thy triumph— even as all the blest 

With him and Thee shall rest. 
Each on his cross, by Thee we hang a while, 

Watching thy patient smile, 
Till we have learn'd to say, " 'Tis justly done, 
" Only in glory, Lord, thy sinful servant own." 

Soon wilt Thou take us to thy tranquil bower 

To rest one little hour, 
Till thine elect are number'd, and the grave 

Call Thee to come and save : 
' Then on thy bosom borne shall we descend, 

Again with earth to blend, 



* [ Easter Eve commemorates the period between the death of Jesus, and 
his resurrection. For the allusion here, see Bishop Horsley on 1 Peter iii. 18, 
19 — " Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which 
also, he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." ] 

f [ The penitent thief. " To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." 
St. Luke xxiii. 43. ] 

t St. Luke xxiii. 43. 






Easter Eve. 149 

Earth all refin'd with bright supernal fires, 
Tinctur'd with holy blood, and wing'd with pure desires. 

Meanwhile with every son and saint of thine 

Along the glorious line, 
Sitting by turns beneath thy sacred feet 

We'll hold communion sweet, 
Know them by look and voice, and thank them all 

For helping us in thrall, 
For words of hope, and bright examples given 
To show through moonless skies that there is light in 

Heaven. 

O come that day, when in this restless heart 

Earth shall resign her part, 
When in the grave with Thee my limbs shall rest, 

My soul with Thee be blest ! 
But stay, presumptuous— -Christ with thee abides 

In the rock's dreary sides : 
He from the stone will wring celestial dew 
If but the prisoner's heart be faithful found and true. 

When tears are spent, and thou art left alone 

With ghosts of blessings gone, 
Think thou art taken from the cross, and laid 

In Jesus' burial shade ; 
Take Moses' rod, the rod of prayer, and call 

Out of the rocky wall 
The fount of holy blood ; and lift on high 
Thy grovelling soul that feels so desolate and dry. 

M 



150 Easter Eve. 

Prisoner of Hope thou art* — look up and sing 

In hope of promis'd spring. 
As in the pit his father's darling layt 

Beside the desert way, 
And knew not how, but knew his God would save 

Even from that living grave, 
So buried with our Lord, we'll close our eyes 
To the decaying world, till Angels bid us rise. 

* Zechariah ix. 12. Turn ye to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope. 
| Gen. xxxvii. 24. They took him and cast him into a pit, and the pit 
was empty, there was no water in it. 



JEZBttV !&%£.* 



And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they 
said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is not here, but 
is risen. St. Luke xxiv. 5, 6. 



[Almighty God, who through thine only begotten Son Jesus 
Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of ever- 
lasting life; we humbly beseech thee, that as, by thy special 
grace preventing us, thou dost put into our minds good desires ; 
so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee 
and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Jlmen.] 

OH day of days ! shall hearts set freet 
No " minstrel rapture" find for Thee ? 
Thou art the Sun of other days, 
They shine by giving back thy rays : 

* [ Easter, derived from a Saxon word meaning to rise, is the name given 
to the festival which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead. It is always held on the Sunday after the full moon which immedi- 
ately succeeds the 21st day of March, the vernal equinox. The occurrence of 
Easter Sunday regulates all the movable feasts of the year. It cannot be 
earlier than the 22d of March, nor later than the 25th of April. ] 

f [ Easter was anciently called the Great Day, the Feast of feasts, and 
the Queen of feasts. ] 



152 Easter Day. 

Enthroned in thy sovereign sphere 
Thou shedd'st thy light on all the year : 
Sundays by Thee more glorious break, 
An Easter Day in every week :* 

And week-days, following in their train, 
The fulness of thy blessing gain, 
Till all, both resting and employ, 
Be one Lord's day of holy joy.f 

Then wake, my soul, to high desires,;}: 
And earlier light thine altar fires : 
The World some hours is on her way, 
Nor thinks on thee, thou blessed day.§ 

* [ The first day of the week, Sunday, being hallowed from the apostles' 
times, as commemorative of the resurrection, is, as it were, a weekly Easter. ] 
f [ " Can there be any day but this, 

Though many suns to shine endeavour ? 
We count three hundred ; but we miss : 
There is but one ; and that one, ever." 

"Easter," by George Herbert. ] 
J [ " Rise, heart ; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise 

Without delays 
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise 
With him mayest rise." 

" Easter," by George Herbert. ] 
§ ["It is Easter, beautiful Easter. The time in all the year when na- 
ture's types most clearly shadow forth the realities of the Christian dispen 
sation. For the first butterfly has burst from its grave-clothes, and is gone 
up towards heaven in the light of this season ; and look ! a thousand bloss- 
oms hang on branches that were to all appearance dead last week — nay ! 
that but a fortnight ago were bending beneath a heavy load of snow ; and 
see how the chestnut buds, wrapped up as they were by God's own hand 



Easter Day. 153 

Or, if she think, it is in scorn : 
The vernal light of Easter morn 
To her dark gaze no brighter seems 
Than Reason's or the Law's pale beams. 

" Where is your Lord?" she scornful asks : 
" Where is his hire 1 we know his tasks ; 
" Sons of a king ye boast to be ; 
" Let us your crowns and treasures see." 

We in the words of Truth reply, 
(An angel brought them from the sky) 
" Our crown, our treasure is not here, 
" 'Tis stor'd above the highest sphere: 

" Methinks your wisdom guides amiss, 
" To seek on earth a Christian's bliss ; 
" We watch not now the lifeless stone ; 
" Our only Lord is risen and gone." 

Yet even the lifeless stone is dear 
For thoughts of Him who late lay here ; 
And the base world, now Christ hath died, 
Ennobled is and glorified. 



with inimitable art, fold within fold, have heard the voice of God in the gar- 
den, and burst their cerements, and sprung forth in beauty, exulting in the life 
He has renewed to them. And the primroses too are up, round the foot of the 
old cross, and the daisies and the cuckoo-flowers are awake, and, rising out 
of their graves under every hedge, tell their tale of hope and the resur- 
rection." Scenes in our Parish, by a Country Parson's Daughter. ] 

m2 



154 Easter Day. 

No more a charnel-house, to fence 

The relics of lost innocence, 

A vault of ruin and decay ; 

Th' imprisoning stone is roll'd away. 

'Tis now a cell, where angels use 

To come and go with heavenly news, 

And in the ears of mourners say, 

-*' Come, see the place where Jesus lay:" 

'Tis now a fane, where Love can find 
Christ every where embalm'd and shrin'd ; 
Aye gathering up memorials sweet, 
Where'er she sets her duteous feet. 

Oh ! joy to Mary first allowed, 
When rous'd from weeping o'er his shroud, 
By his own calm, soul-soothing tone, 
Breathing her name, as still his own ! 

Joy to the faithful Three renew'd 
As their glad errand they pursued ! 
Happy, who so Christ's word convey, 
That he may meet them on their way ! 

So is it still : to holy tears, 
In lonely hours, Christ risen appears : 
In social hours, who Christ would see, 
Must turn all tasks to Charity. 



j&onaag in faster OTeefc* 

ST. PETER AND CORNELIUS. 

Of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons ; but in every 
nation he thatfeareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. 
Acts x.34, 35. [Scripture appointed as the Epistle for the day.] 



[Almighty God, who through thine only begotten Son Jesus 
Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of ever- 
lasting life; we humbly beseech thee, that as, by thy special grace 
preventing us, thou dost put into our minds good desires ; so by 
thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the 
Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.] 

GO up and watch the new-born rill 
Just trickling from its mossy bed, 
Streaking the heath-clad hill 
With a bright emerald thread. 

Canst thou her bold career foretell, 
What rocks she shall o'erleap or rend, 
How far in Ocean's swell 
Her freshening billows send ? 



156 Monday in Easter Week. 

Perchance that little brook shall flow 
The bulwark of some mighty realm, 
Bear navies to and fro 

With monarchs at their helm. 

Or canst thou guess, how far away 
Some sister nymph, beside her urn 
Reclining night and day, 

'Mid reeds and mountain fern, 

Nurses her store, with thine to blend 
When many a moor and glen are past, 
Then in the wide sea end 
Their spotless lives at last ? 

Even so, the coarse of prayer who knows? 
It springs in silence where it will, 
Springs out of sight, and flows 
At first a lonely rill: 

But streams shall meet it by and by 
From thousand sympathetic hearts, 
Together swelling high 
Their chant of many parts. 

Unheard by all but angel ears 
The good Cornelius knelt alone, 
Nor dream' d his prayers and tears 
Would help a world undone. 



Monday in Easter Week. 157 

The while upon his terrac'd roof 
The lov'd Apostle to his Lord 
In silent thought aloof 

For heavenly vision soar'd. 

Far o'er the glowing western main* 
His wistful brow was upward rais'd, 
Where, like an Angel's train, 
The burnish'd water blaz'd. 

The saint beside the ocean pray'd, 
The soldier in his chosen bower, 
Where all his eye survey' d 
Seem'd sacred in that hour.t 

To each unknown his brother's prayer,^ 
Yet brethren true in dearest love 
Were they — and now they share 
Fraternal joys above. 

There daily through Christ's open gate 
They see the Gentile spirits press, 
Brightening their high estate 
With dearer happiness. 



* [ Peter was at Joppa, on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. ] 
j [ " The sacred peacefulness of prayer." Bishop Mant, Gospel Miracles. 
2. 32. ] 
J i See the beautiful story of Cornelius, in Acts x. ] 



158 Monday in Easter Week. 

What civic wreath for comrades sav'd 
Shone ever with such deathless gleam, 
Or when did perils brav'd 
So sweet to veterans seem ? 



^ttnstrag in IBmttv SOTrefc- 



THE SNOW DROP. 



And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, and 
did run to bring His disciples word. St. Matthew xxviii. 8. 



[Almighty God, who through thine only begotten Son Jesus 
Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of ever- 
lasting life ; we humbly beseech thee, that as, by thy special grace 
preventing us, thou dost put into our minds good desires; so by 
thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and 
the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.~\ 

THOU first-born of the year's delight,* 

Pride of the dewy glade, 
In vernal green and virgin white, 

Thy vestal robes arrayed ; 

* [ "We catch the first flower of the season, too, the little snow drop 
(galanthus nivalis), haply rearing its tiny bell, through the lingering snow, 
under some hedge or bank." Mudie's British Naturalist, vol. ii. p. 107. ] 



Tuesday in Easter Week. 159 

'Tis not' because thy drooping form 

Sinks graceful on its nest, 
When chilly shades from gathering storm 

Affright thy tender breast ; 

Nor for yon river islet wild 

Beneath the willow spray, 
Where, like the ringlets of a child, 

Thou weav'st thy circle gay ; 

'Tis not for these I love thee dear — 

Thy shy averted smiles 
To Fancy bode a joyous year, 

One of Life's fairy isles. 

They twinkle to the wintry moon, 

And cheer th' ungenial day, 
And tell us, all will glisten soon 

As green and bright as they. 

Is there a heart, that loves the spring, 

Their witness can refuse ? 
Yet mortals doubt, when angels bring 

From heaven their Easter news : 

When holy maids and matrons speak 

Of Christ's forsaken bed, 
And voices, that forbid to seek 

The living 'mid the dead. 



160 Tuesday in Easter Week, 

And when they say, " Turn, wandering heart, 

" Thy Lord is ris'n indeed, 
" Let Pleasure go, put Care apart, 

" And to His presence speed ;" 

We smile in scorn : and yet we know 

They early sought the tomb, 
Their hearts, that now so freshly glow, 

Lost in desponding gloom. 

They who have sought, nor hope to find, 
Wear not so bright a glance : 

They who have won their earthly mind, 
Less reverently advance. 

But where, in gentle spirits, fear 

And joy so duly meet, 
These sure have seen the angels near, 

And kiss'd the Saviour's feet. 

Nor let the Pastor's thankful eye 

Their faltering tale disdain, 
As on their lowly couch they lie, 

Prisoners of want and pain. 

O guide us, when our faithless hearts 
From Thee would start aloof, 

Where Patience her sweet skill imparts 
Beneath some cottage roof: 



Tuesday in Easter Week, 161 

Revive our dying fires, to burn 

High as her anthems soar, 
And of our scholars let us learn 

Our own forgotten lore. 



iPtrst Stttrtrag after ZEmttv. 

THE RESTLESS PASTOR REPROVED. 

Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separat- 
ed you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself? JVum- 
bers xvi. 9. [First Morning Lesson, Church of England.] 

[Almighty Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our 
sins, and to rise again for our justification; grant us so to put 
away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always 
serve thee in pureness of living and truth, through the merits of 
the same, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

FIRST Father of the holy seed, 
If yet, invok'd in hour of need, 

Thou count me for thine own, 
Not quite an outcast if I prove, 
(Thou joy'st in miracles of love) 

Hear, from thy mercy-throne ! 

Upon thine altar's horn of gold 
Help me to lay my trembling hold, 

N 



162 First Sunday after Faster, 

Though stain'd with Christian gore ;— 
The blood of souls by Thee redeem'd,* 
But, while I rov'd or idly dream'd, 

Lost to be found no more. 

For oft, when summer leaves were bright, 
And every flower was bath'd in light, 

In sunshine moments past, 
My wilful heart would burst away 
From where the holy shadow lay, 

Where Heaven my lot had cast. 

I thought it scorn with Thee to dwell, 
A Hermit in a silent cell, 

While, gaily sweeping by, 
Wild Fancy blew his bugle strain, 
And marshall'd all his gallant train 

In the world's wondering eye. 

I would have join'd him — but as oft 
Thy whisper'd warnings, kind and soft, 
My better soul confess'd. 



* [ " But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, 
and the people be not warned ; if the sword come, and take any person 
from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I re- 
quire at the watchman's hand." Eiekiel xxxiii. 6. 

" Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the 
which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God. 
which he hath •purchased with his blood." Acts xx. 28. ] 



First Sunday after Easter. 163 

" My servant, let the world alone — 
" Safe on the steps of Jesus' throne 
" Be tranquil and he blest. 

" Seems it to thee a niggard hand 

" That nearest Heaven has bade thee stand, 

" The ark to touch and bear, 
" With incense of pure heart's desire 
" To heap the censer's sacred fire, 

"The snow-white Ephod wear?" 

Why should we crave the worldling's wreath,* 
On whom the Saviour deign' d to breathe, 

To whom his keys were given, 
Who lead the choir where angels meet, 
With angels' food our brethren greet, 

And pour the drink of Heaven ? 

When sorrow all our heart would ask, 
We need not shun our daily task, 

And hide ourselves for calm ; 
The herbs we seek to heal our woe 
Familiar by our pathway grow, 

Our common air is balm. 



* [ Can there be imagined a more eloquent delineation of the pure and 
exalted pleasures of the pastoral office than is afforded in the lines which 
follow ; or a pastoral heart that is not moved by them to deeper gratitude 
and more devoted earnestness ? J 



164 First Sunday after Easter. 

Around each pure domestic shrine 
Bright flowers of Eden bloom and twine, 

Our hearths are altars all; 
The prayers of hungry souls and poor, 
Like armed angels at the door, 

Our unseen foes appal. 

Alms all around and hymns within — 
What evil eye can entrance win 

Where guards like these abound ? 
If chance some heedless heart should roam, 
Sure, thought of these will lure it home 

Ere lost in Folly's round. 

O joys, that sweetest in decay, 
Fall not, like wither'd leaves, away, 

But with the silent breath 
Of violets drooping one by one, 
Soon as their fragrant task is done, 

Are wafted high in death I 



Sbecontr Stwtrag after TEuxtn. 



BALAAM. 

He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge, 
of the Most High : which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a 
trance, but having his eyes open : I shall see him, but not now : I shall be- 
hold him, but not nigh : there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre 
shall arise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all 
the children of Sheth. Numbers xxiv. 16, 17. [First Morning Lesson, 
Church of England.] 



[Almighty God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us 
both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life ; give 
us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that, his 
inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow 
the blessed steps of his most holy life, through the same, Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

O FOR a sculptor's hand, 

That thou might' st take thy stand,* 
Thy wild hair floating on the eastern breeze, 

Thy tranc'd yet open gaze 

Fix'd on the desert haze, 
As one who deep in heaven some airy pageant sees. 

* [ The prophet Balaam. ] 

n2 



166 Second Sunday after Easter. 

In outline dim and vast 

Their fearful shadows cast 
The giant forms of empires on their way 

To ruin : one by one 

They tower and they are gone, 
Yet in the Prophet's soul the dreams of avarice stay.* 

No sun or star so bright 

In all the world of light 
That they should draw to heaven his downward eye : 

He hears th' Almighty's word, 

He sees the angel's sword, 
Yet low upon the earth his heart and treasure lie. 

Lo from yon argent field, 

To him and us reveal' d, 
One gentle star glides down, on earth to dwell. 

Chain'd as they are below 

Our eyes may see it glow, 
And as it mounts again, may track its brightness well. 

To him it glar'd afar, 

A token of wild war, 
The banner of his Lord's victorious wrath : 

But close to us it gleams, 

Its soothing lustre streams 
Around our homers green walls, and on our church-way 
path. 

* [ " Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteous- 
ness." S Peter ii. 15. ] 



Second Sunday after Easter. 167 

We in the tents abide 

Which he at distance eyed 
Like goodly cedars by the waters spread, 

While seven red altar-fires* 

Rose up in wavy spires, 
Where on the mount he watch'd his sorceries dark and 
dread. 

He watch'd till morning's ray 

On lake and meadow lay, 
And willow-shaded streams, that silent sweep 

Around the banner'd lines,f 

Where by their several signs 
The desert-wearied tribes in sight of Canaan sleep. 

He watch'd till knowledge came 

Upon his soul like flame, 
Not of those magic fires at random caught : 

But true prophetic light 

Flash'd o'er him, high and bright, 
Flash'd once, and died away, and left his darken'd 
thought. 

And can he choose but fear, 
Who feels his God so near, 
That when he fain would curse, his powerless tongue 

* [ " Build me here seven altars." Numbers xxxiii. 1. ] 
f [ " And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his 
tents, according to their tribes." Numbers xxiv. 2. ] 



168 Second Sunday after Easter. 

In blessing only moves ? — 
Alas ! the world he loves 
Too close around his heart her tangling veil hath flung. 

Sceptre and Star divine,* 

Who in thine inmost shrine 
Hast made us worshippers, claim thine own ; 

More than thy seers we know — 

O teach our love to grow 
Up to thy heavenly light, and reap what Thou hast sown. 



* [ " There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out 
of Israel" — prophetic types of the Messiah. ] 



arfurtr «StMirag after TBunttv. 

LANGUOR AND TRAVAIL. 

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come : 
but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the an- 
guish, for joy that a man is born into the world. St. John xvi. 21. [Gospel 
for the day.] 



[Almighty God, who showest to them that are in error the 
light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the 
way of righteousness ; grant unto all those who are admitted into 
the fellowship of Christ's religion, that they may avoid those 
things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such 
things as are agreeable to the same, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Amen.] 

WELL may I guess and feel 
Why Autumn should be sad ; 
But vernal airs should sorrow heal, 
Spring should be gay and glad :* 

* [ Keble is a dear lover of the spring. It is in harmony with his Chris- 
tian hopes, and it indulges in him that keen and grateful love of life which 
breathes in all he writes. "That is the grand time of observation," says 
one of nature's shrewdest observers, "the busy season with all nature, in 
every thing that grows and lives. How countless are the millions of little 



170 Third Sunday after Easter, 

Yet as along this violet bank I rove, 

The languid sweetness seems to choke my breath, 
I sit me down beside the hazel grove, 
And sigh, and half could wish my weariness were death. 



buds, which one of these 'showering and shining' days brings into leaf* 
They are fresh and washed by the shower; and when the warmth comes, 
you would absolutely think that you can both see and hear them cracking 
their scaly cases in which they were confined and protected for the winter ; 
and that the little green tufts were toiling, like living and rational creatures, 
at strife, which should produce the finest shoot, and the fairest blossom. 
Then the whisking wings and the thrilling throats are, apparently, enough 
to put the air into a state of commotion. And they are all in the act of 
beautifying nature too : some are plucking the dry grass so that the fields 
may look green ; others are gathering up the withered sticks ; others, again, 
the lost feathers and hairs ; and others, still, are pulling the lichens from the 
bark of the trees. The merles and the mavises are running under the 
hedges and the evergreens in the shrubbery, and capturing the snails in 
their winter habitations, before they have had time to prepare those hordes 
which would be the pest of the gardeners for the whole season. Other birds 
are inspecting the buds in the orchard, and picking off every one which con- 
tains a caterpillar or a nest of eggs, that would pour forth their destructive 
horde, and render the whole tree lifeless. Yonder again are the rooks, 
clearing the meadow of the young cockchafers, which the heat has brought 
nearer to the surface ; and which, if they were to remain there, would soon 
begin to eat the roots of the grass to such extent that the turf would peel off 
as easily as the withered tunic of an onion. Some of them come from a dis- 
tance too, for there are the white sea-gulls, with their long bent wings and 
their wailing screams, busy in the same field with the ploughmen, and 
picking up the 'animal weeds,' while the ploughs are turning down the 
vegetable ones. All the countless races of that time of labour and of love, 
both native and visitant, are busy following their own purpose, or rather 
the law of their being, for they form no purpose of their own, or they would 
sometimes commit errors of judgment as we do, but they do not." Mudie^s 
Observation of Nature, pp. 177, 178. ] 



Third Sunday after JE aster. 171 

Like a bright veering cloud 
Gray blossoms twinkle there, 
Warbles around a busy crowd 
Of larks in purest air. 
Shame on the heart that dreams of blessings gone, 
Or wakes the spectral forms of woe and crime, 
When nature sings of joy and hope alone, 
Reading her cheerful lesson in her own sweet time. 

Nor let the proud heart say, 
In her self-torturing hour, 
The travail pangs must have their way, 
The aching brow must lower. 
To us long since the glorious Child is born, 
Our throes should be forgot, or only seem 
Like a sad vision told for joy at morn, 
For joy that we have wak'd and found it but a dream. 

Mysterious to all thought 
A mother's prime of bliss, 
When to her eager lips is brought 
Her infant's thrilling kiss. 
O never shall it set, the sacred light 

Which dawns that moment on her tender gaze, 
In the eternal distance blending bright 
Her darling's hope and hers, for love and joy and praise. 

No need for her to weep 

Like Thracian wives of yore, 



172 Third Sunday after Easter. 

Save when in rapture still and deep 
Her thankful heart runs o'er. 
They mourn'd to trust their treasure on the main, 

Sure of the storm, unknowing of their guide : 
Welcome to her the peril and the pain, 
For well she knows the home where they may safely 
hide. 

She joys that one is born 
Into a world forgiven, 
Her Father's household to adorn, 
And dwell with her in heaven. 
So have I seen, in spring's bewitching hour, 

When the glad earth is offering all her best, 
Some gentle maid bend o'er a cherish'd flower, 
And wish it worthier on a Parent's heart to rest. 



jFourtfi Stwtrag after 2Saster, 

THE DOVE ON THE CROSS. 

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth : it is expedient for you that I go away : 
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you: but if I depart, 
I will send him unto you. St. John xvi. 7. [Gospel for the day.] 

[O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and 
affections of sinful men ; grant unto thy people, that they may 
love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which 
thou dost promise ; that so, among the sundry and manifold 
changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where 
true joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

MY Saviour, can it ever be 
That I should gain by losing Thee ? 
The watchful mother tarries nigh 
Though sleep have clos'd her infant's eye, 
For should he wake, and find her gone, 
She knows she could not bear his moan. 
But I am weaker than a child, 

And Thou art more than mother dear ; 
Without Thee Heaven were but a wild : 

How can I live without Thee here ! 
o 



174 Fourth Sunday after Easter, 

" 'Tis good for you, that I should go, 
" You lingering yet awhile below;" — 
'Tis thine own gracious promise, Lord ! 
Thy saints have prov'd the faithful word, 
When Heaven's bright boundless avenue 
Far open'd on their eager view, 
And homeward to thy Father's throne, 

Still lessening, brightening on their sight, 
Thy shadowy car went soaring on ; 

They track'd Thee up th' abyss of light. 

Thou bidd'st rejoice ; they dare not mourn, 
But to their home in gladness turn, 
Their home and God's, that favour'd place, 
Where still he shines on Abraham's race, 
In prayers and blessings there to wait 
Like suppliants at their monarch's gate, 
Who bent with bounty rare to aid 

The splendours of his crowning day, 
Keeps back awhile his largess, made 

More welcome for that brief delay : 

In doubt they wait, but not unblest ; 
They doubt not of their Master's rest, 
Nor of the gracious will of Heaven — 
Who gave his Son, sure all has given* — 



* [ " He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, 
how shall he sot with him also freely give us all things." Romans viii.32. ] 



Fourth Sunday after Easter. 175 

But in ecstatic awe they muse 

What course the genial stream may choose, 

And far and wide their fancies rove, 

And to their height of wonder strain, 
What secret miracle of love 

Should make their Saviour's going gain. 

The days of hope and prayer are past, 
The day of comfort dawns at last, 
The everlasting gates again 
Roll back, and lo ! a royal train — 
From the far depth of light once more 
The floods of glory earthward pour : 
They part like shower-drops in mid air, 

But ne'er so soft fell noon-tide shower, 
Nor evening rainbow gleam'd so fair 

To weary swains in parehed bower. 

Swiftly and straight each tongue of flame* 
Through cloud and breeze unwavering came, 
And darted to its place of rest 
On some meek brow of Jesus blest. 
Nor fades it yet, that living gleam, 
And still those lambent lightnings stream ; 
Where'er the Lord is, there are they ; 
In every heart that gives them room, 



* [ " There appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat 
upon each of them." Acts ii. 3. ] 



176 Fourth Sunday after Easter. 

They light His altar every day, 
Zeal to inflame, and vice consume. 

Soft as the plumes of Jesus' Dove 
They nurse the soul to heavenly love : 
The struggling spark of good within, 
Just smother'd in the strife of sin, 
They quicken to a timely glow, 
The pure flame spreading high and low* 
Said I, that prayer and hope were o'er ? 

Nay, blessed Spirit ! but by Thee 
The Church's prayer finds wings to soar, 

The Church's hope finds eyes to see. 

Then, fainting soul, arise and sing ; 
Mount, but be sober on the wing ; 
Mount up, for Heaven is won by prayer, 
Be sober, for thou art not there; 
Till Death the weary spirit free, 
Thy God hath said, 'Tis good for thee 
To walk by faith and not by sight : 

Take it on trust a little while ; 
Soon shalt thou read the mystery right 

In the full sunshine of His smile. 

Or if thou yet more knowledge crave, 
Ask thine own heart, that willing slave 
To all that works thee woe or harm : 
Should'st thou not need some mighty charm 



Fourth Sunday after Easter. Ill 

To win thee to thy Saviour's side, 
Though He had deign'd with thee to bide ? 
The Spirit must stir the darkling deep, 

The Dove must settle on the Cross, 
Else we should all sin on or sleep 

With Christ in sight, turning our gain to loss. 



iFtCtfi SttitiJag after 3Easter. 

ROGATION SUNDAY.* 



And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him : and I 
prayed for Aaron also the same time. Deut. ix. 20. 



[O Lord, from whom all good things do come ; grant to us, thy 
humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those 
things that are good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform 
the same, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.] 

NOW is there solemn pause in earth and heaven ; 
The Conqueror now 
His bonds hath riven, 

* [ Rogation Sunday is that which next precedes Ascension Day. The 
three intervening days, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, are called Roga- 
tion days, from a Latin word signifying to beseech, because for those days 
extraordinary prayers were provided, especially for a blessing on the fruits 
of the earth, and for exemption from war and pestilence. They retain their 
place in the calendar of the Church of England. ] 

o 2 



178 Fifth Sunday after Easter. 

And Angels wonder why he stays below : 
Yet hath not man his lesson learn'd, 
How endless love should be return'd. 

Beep is the silence as of summer noon,* 
When a soft shower 
Will trickle soon, 
A gracious rain, freshening the weary bower — 
O sweetly then far off is heard 
The clear note of some lonely bird. 

So let thy turtle-dove's sad call arise 
In doubt and fear 
Through darkening skies, 
And pierce, O Lord, thy justly sealed ear, 
Where on the house-top, t all night long, 
She trills her widow'd, faltering song. 

Teach her to know and love her hour of prayer, 
And evermore, 
As faith grows rare, 
Unlock her heart, and offer all its store 
In holier love and humbler vows, 
As suits a lost returning spouse. 



* [ " When the air is still, and the smoke ascends in tall columns with- 
out blending much with the air, it is a sign of rain." Mudie's Contemplation 
of Nature, p. 174. ] 

| Psalmcii.7. 



Fifth Sunday after Easter. 179 

Not as at first,* but with intenser cry, 
Upon the mount 
She now must lie, 
Till thy dear love to blot the sad account 
Of her rebellious race be won, 
Pitying the mother in the son. 

But chiefly (for she knows thee anger'd worst 
By holiest things 
Profan'd and curst), 
Chiefly for Aaron's seed she spreads her wings, 
If but one leaf she may from Thee 
Win of the reconciling tree. 

For what shall heal, when holy water banes ? 
Or who may guide 
O'er desert plains 
Thy lov'd yet sinful people wandering wide, 
If Aaron's hand unshrinking mouldt 
An idol form of earthly gold ? 

Therefore her tears are bitter, and as deep 
Her boding sigh, 
As, while men sleep, 
Sad hearted mothers heave, that wakeful lie, 
To muse upon some darling child 
Roaming in youth's uncertain wild. 

* Deut. ix. 23. I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as 
I fell down at the first, 
f Exodus xxxii. 4. 



; 



180 Fifth Sunday after Easter. 

Therefore on fearful dreams her inward sight 
Is fain to dwell — 
What lurid light 
Shall the last darkness of the world dispel, 
The Mediator in his wrath 
Descending down the lightning's path. 

Yet, yet awhile, offended Saviour, pause, 
In act to break* 
Thine outrag'd laws, 
O spare thy rebels for thine own dear sake ; 
Withdraw thine hand, nor dash to earth 
The covenant of our second birth. 

'Tis forfeit like the first — we own it all- 
Yet for love's sake, 
Let it not fall ; 
But at thy touch let veiled hearts awake, 
That nearest to thine altar lie, 
Yet least of holy things descry. 

Teacher of teachers ! Priest of priests ! from Thee 
The sweet strong prayer 
Must rise, to free 
First Levi, then all Israel, from the snare. 
Thou art our Moses out of sight — 
Speak for us, or we perish quite. 

* Exodus xxxii. 19. 



®ncmuion Hag/ 



* 



Wiiy stand ye gazing up into Heaven ? This same Jesus, which is taken 
up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him 
go into heaven. Acts i. 11. [Scripture appointed as the Epistle for the day.] 



[Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do be- 
lieve thy only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have as- 
cended into the heavens ; so we may also in heart and mind 
thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and 
reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without 
end. Amen.] 

SOFT cloud, that while the breeze of May- 
Chants her glad matins in the leafy arch, 

Draw'st thy bright veil across the heavenly way, 
Meet pavement for an angel's glorious march :t 

* [ The fortieth day from Easter Sunday, which is always Thursday, is 
celebrated in commemoration of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. ] 

t [ ®louTrs. 

" Cloud land ! Gorgeous land !" 



Coleridge. 



I cannot look above and see 
Yon high-piled pillowy mass 



182 Ascension Day. 

My soul is envious of mine eye, 
That it should soar and glide with thee so fast, 

The while my grovelling thoughts half buried lie 9 
Or lawless roam around this earthly waste. 

Of evening clouds, so swimmingly, 

In gold and purple pass, 
And think not, Lord, how Thou wast seen 

On Israel's desert way 
Before them, in thy shadowy screen, 

Pavilioned all the day ! 

Or, of those robes of gorgeous hue, 

Which the Redeemer wore, 
When ravished from his followers' view, 

Aloft his flight he bore, 
When lifted, as on mighty wing, 

He curtained his ascent, 
And wrapt in clouds, went triumphing 

Above the firmament. 

Is it a trail of that same pall 

Of many coloured dies, 
That high above, o'er-mantling all, 

Hangs midway down the skies — 
Or borders of those sweeping folds 

Which shall be all unfurled 
About the Saviour, when he holds 

His judgment on the world ? 

For in like manner as he went,— 

My soul, hast thou forgot ? — 
Shall be his terrible descent, 

When man expecteth not ! 
Strength, Son of man, against that hour, 

Be to our spirits given, 
When thou shalt come again with power, 

Upon the clouds of heaven ! 

Rev. William CroswelL ] 



Ascension Day. 183 

Chains of my heart, avaunt I say— 
I will arise, and in the strength of love 

Pursue the bright track ere it fade away, 
My Saviour's pathway to his home above. 

Sure, when I reach the point where earth 
Melts into nothing from th' uncumber'd sight, 

Heaven will o'ercome th' attraction of my birth, 
And I shall sink in yonder sea of light :* 

Till resting by th' incarnate Lord, 
Once bleeding, now triumphant for my sake, 

I mark him, how by seraph hosts ador'd 
He to earth's lowest cares is still awake. 

The sun and every vassal star, 
All space beyond the soar of Angel wings, 

Wait on his word : and yet he stays his car 
For every sigh a contrite suppliant brings. 

He listens to the silent tear 
For all the anthems of the boundless skyt— 
And shall our dreams of music bar our ear 
To His soul-piercing voice for ever nigh 1 



* [ There is a point in space where, the attraction of the earth being 
overcome, a body reaching it would be carried out of the earth's orbit. The 
existence of such a point, in reference to the soul, is here beautifully sug- 
gested ] 

| [ Notwithstanding " all the anthems of the boundless sky." ] 



184 Ascension Day. 

Nay, gracious Saviour — but as now 
Our thoughts have trac'd Thee to thy glory-throne, 

So help us evermore with Thee to bow 
Where human sorrow breathes her lowly moan. 

We must not stand to gaze too long, 
Though on unfolding Heaven our gaze we bend, 

Where lost behind the bright angelic throng 
We see Christ's entering triumph slow ascend. 

No fear but we shall soon behold, 
Faster than now it fades, that gleam revive, 

When issuing from his cloud of fiery gold 
Our wasted frames feel the true sun, and live. 

Then shall we see Thee as Thou art,* 
For ever fix'd in no unfruitful gaze, 

But such as lifts the new created heart, 
Age after age, in worthier love and praise. 

* [ " When he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him 
as he is." 1 John Hi. 2. ] 



Sttntraa after ®nctti8iim. 



As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to 
another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 St. Peter iv. 10. 
[Epistle for the day.] 



[O God, the king of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son 
Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven ', 
we beseech thee leave us not comfortless ; but send to us thine 
Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place 
whither our Saviour Christ is gone before ; who liveth and reign- 
eth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. 
Amen.'] 

THE Earth that in her genial breast 
Makes for the down a kindly nest, 
Where wafted by the warm south-west 

It floats at pleasure, 
Yields, thankful, of her very best, 

To nurse her treasure : 

True to her trust, tree, herb, or reed, 
She renders for each scatter' d seed, 
And to her Lord with duteous heed 
Gives large increase : 
p 



186 Sunday after Ascension. 

Thus year by year she works unfeed, 
And will not cease. 

Woe worth these barren hearts of ours, 
Where Thou hast set celestial flowers, 
And water'd with more balmy showers, 

Than e'er distill'd 
In Eden, on th' ambrosial bowers — 

Yet nought we yield. 

Largely Thou givest, gracious Lord, 
Largely thy gifts should be restor'd ; 
Freely Thou givest, and thy word 

Is, " freely give,"* 
He only, who forgets to hoard, 

Has learn'd to live. 

Wisely Thou givest — all around 
Thine equal rays are resting found, 
Yet varying so on various ground 

They pierce and strike, 
That not two roseate cups are crown'd 

With dew alike : 

Even so, in silence, likest Thee, 
Steals on soft-handed Charity, 
Tempering her gifts, that seem so free, 
By time and place, 

* St. Matt. x. 8. 



Sunday after Ascension. 187 

Till not a woe the bleak world see, 
But finds her grace : 

Eyes to the blind, and to the lame 
Feet, and to sinners wholesome blame, 
To starving bodies food and flame 

By turns she brings, 
To humbled souls, that sink for shame, 

Lends heaven-ward wings : 

Leads them the way our Saviour went, 
And shows Love's treasure yet unspent ; 
As when th' unclouded heavens were rent 

Opening his road, 
Nor yet his Holy Spirit sent 

To our abode. 

Ten days th' eternal doors display'd* 
Were wondering (so th' Almighty bade) 
Whom Love enthron'd would send, in aid 

Of souls that mourn, 
Left orphans in Earth's dreary shade 

As soon as born. 

Open they stand, that prayers in throngs 
May rise on high, and holy songs, 



* [ Ten days intervened between the ascension of the Saviour, and the 
descent of the Comforter. ] 



188 Sunday after Ascension. 

Such incense as of right belongs 

To the true shrine, 
Where stands the Healer of all wrongs 

In light divine ; 

The golden censer in his hand, 
He offers hearts from every land, 
Tied to his own by gentlest band 

Of silent Love : 
About Him winged blessings stand 

In act to move. 

A little while, and they shall fleet 
From Heaven to Earth, attendants meet 
On the life-giving Paraclete 

Speeding his flight, 
With all that sacred is and sweet, 

On saints to light. 

Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, all 
Shall feel the shower of Mercy fall, 
And starting at th' Almighty's call, 

Give what He gave, 
Till their high deeds the world appall 

And sinners save* 



gi&liftmutimg** 



And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty 
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting: and there appear- 
ed unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them : 
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts ii. 2, 3. [Scripture for 
the Epistle.] 



[O God, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faith- 
ful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; grant 
us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and 
evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort, through the merits of 
Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, ia 
the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. 
Amen.] 

WHEN God of old came down from Heaven, 

In power and wrath He came ; 
Before his feet the clouds were riven, 

Half darkness and half flame : 

* [ This festival is designed to commemorate the descent of the Holy 
Ghost on the Apostles in the shape of cloven fiery tongues. It took place on 
the Jewish feast of Pentecost, the anniversary of the giving of the law at 
Mount Sinai. The practice in the primitive Church of receiving catechu- 
mens generally to baptism on this day, clad in white robes, probably gave 
occasion to its name of white, or, by contraction, Whitsunday. ] 

p2 



190 Whitsunday. 

Around the trembling mountain's base 

The prostrate people lay ; 
A day of wrath, and not of grace ; 

A dim and dreadful day. 

But when he came the second time, 
He came in power and love, 

Softer than gale at morning prime 
Hover'd his holy Dove. 

The fires that rush'd on Sinai down 

In sudden torrents dread, 
Now gently light, a glorious crown, 

On every sainted head. 

Like arrows went those lightnings forth 
Wing'd with the sinner's doom, 

But these, like tongues, o'er all the earth 
Proclaiming life to come : 

And as on Israel's awe-struck ear 
The voice exceeding loud, 

The trump, that angels quake to hear, 
Thrill' d from the deep, dark cloud, 

So, when the Spirit of our God 
Came down his flock to find, 

A voice from heaven was heard abroad, 
A rushing, mighty wind. 



Whitsunday. 191 

Nor dotH the outward ear alone 

At that high warning start ; 
Conscience gives back th' appalling tone ; 

'Tis echoed in the heart. 

It fills the Church of God ; it fills 

The sinful world around ; 
Only in stubborn hearts and wills 

No place for it is found. 

To other strains our souls are set : 

A giddy whirl of sin 
Fills ear and brain, and will not let 

Heaven's harmonies come in. 

Come Lord, come Wisdom, Love, and Power, 

Open our ears to hear ; 
Let us not miss th' accepted hour ; 

Save, Lord, by Love or Fear. 



J^fontrag tn WhitmfeW&ztk. 



THE CITY OP CONFUSION. 



So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of ^11 the 
earth: and they left off to build the city. Genesis xi. 8. [First Morning 
Lesson.] 



[O God, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faith- 
ful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit ; grant 
us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, 
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort, through the merits of 
Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in 
the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amm.~\ 

SINCE all that is not heav'n must fade, 
Light be the hand of Ruin laid 

Upon the home I love : 
With lulling spell let soft Decay 
Steal on, and spare the giant sway, 

The crash of tower and grove. 

Far opening down some woodland deep 
In their own quiet glade should sleep 
The relics dear to thought, 



Monday in Whitsun-Weeh. 193 

And wild-flower wreaths from side to side 
Their waving tracery hang, to hide 
What ruthless Time has wrought. 

Such are the visions green and sweet 
That o'er the wistful fancy fleet 

In Asia's sea-like plain, 
Where slowly, round his isles of sand, 
Euphrates through the lonely land 

Winds toward the pearly main. 

Slumber is there, but not of rest ; 
There her forlorn and weary nest 

The famish' d hawk has found, 
The wild dog howls at fall of night, 
The serpent's rustling coils affright 

The traveller on his round. 

What shapeless form, half lost on high,* 
Half seen against the evening sky, 

Seems like a ghost to glide, 
And watch, from Babel's crumbling heap, 
Where in her shadow, fast asleep, 

Lies fall'n imperial Pride ? 

* See Sir R. K. Porter's Travels, ii. 387. " In my second visit to Birs 
Nimrood, my party suddenly halted, having descried several dark objects 
moving along the summit of its hill, which they construed into dismounted 
Arabs on the look out: I took out my glass to examine, and soon distin- 
guished that the causes of our alarm were two or three majestic lions, taking 
the air upon the heights of the pyramid." 



194 Monday in Whitsun-Weeh. 

With half-closed eye a lion there 
Is basking in his noontide lair, 

Or prowls in twilight gloom. 
The golden city's king he seems, 
Such as in old prophetic dreams* 

Sprang from rough ocean's womb. 

But where are now his eagle wings, 
That shelter'd erst a thousand kings, 

Hiding the glorious sky 
From half the nations, till they own 
No holier name, no mightier throne ? 

That vision is gone by. 

Quench'd is the golden statue's ray,f 
The breath of heaven has blown away 

What toiling earth had pil'd, 
Scattering wise heart and crafty hand, 
As breezes strew on ocean's sand 

The fabrics of a child. 

Divided thence through every age 
Thy rebels, Lord, their warfare wage, 

And hoarse and jarring all 
Mount up their heaven assailing cries 
To thy bright watchmen in the skies 

From Babel's shatter'd wall. 



* Daniel vii. 4. f Daniel ii. and iii. 



Monday in Whitsun-Week. 195 

Thrice only since, with blended might* 
The nations on that haughty height 

Have met to scale the heaven : 
Thrice only might a Seraph's look 
A moment's shade of sadness brook — 

Such power to guilt was given. 

Now the fierce Bear and Leopard keent 
Are perish'd as they ne'er had been, 

Oblivion is their home : 
Ambition's boldest dream and last 
Must melt before the clarion blast 

That sounds the dirge of Rome. 

Heroes and Kings, obey the charm, 
Withdraw the proud high-reaching arm, 

There is an oath on high, 
That ne'er on brow of mortal birth 
Shall blend again the crowns of earth, 

Nor in according cry 

Her many voices mingling own 
One tyrant Lord, one idol throne : 

But to His triumph soon 
He shall descend, who rules above, 

* [ The allusions throughout this piece are to the four universal empires 
predicted in the book of Daniel, and to the establishment of Christ's pro- 
mised spiritual kingdom on the ruins of them all. The sentiment of the 
last three lines is truly sublime. ] 

f Daniel vii. 5, 6. 



.. 



196 Monday in fVhitsun-Weeh. 

And the pure language of His love* 
All tongues of men shall tune. 

Nor let Ambition heartless mourn ; 
When Babel's very ruins burn, 

Her high desires may breathe ; — 
O'ercome thyself, and thou may'st share 
With Christ his Father's throne,t and wear 

The world's imperial wreath. 

* Zephaniah iii. 9. " Then will I turn to the people a pure language, 
that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one 
consent." 

t Revelations iii. 21. " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with 
me in my throne/' 



arttestrag in 2imttmtu=21?eefc* 



HOLY ORDERS. 



When He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them. Si. John 
X.4. [Gospel for the day.] 



[O God, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faith- 
ful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit ; 
grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, 
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort, through the merits 
of Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, 
in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. 
Amen.'] 

{Addressed to Candidates for Ordination.) 

"LORD, in thy field I work all day, 
"I read, I teach, I warn, I pray, 
"And yet these wilful wandering sheep 
Within thy fold I cannot keep. 



a 



"I journey, yet no step is won — 
" Alas ! the weary course I run ! 
Q 



198 Tuesday in Whitsun-Week. 

"Like sailors ship wreck' d in their dreams* 
" All powerless and benighted seems." 

What ? wearied out with half a life ? 
Scar'd with this smooth unbloody strife ? 
Think where thy coward hopes had flown 
Had Heaven held out the martyr's crown. 

How could'st thou hang upon the cross, 
To whom a weary hour is loss ? 
Or how the thorns and scourging brook. 
Who shrinkest from a scornful look ? 

Yet ere thy craven spirit faints, 
Hear thine own King, the King of saints ; 
Though thou wert toiling in the grave, 
*Tis He can cheer thee, He can save. 

He is th' eternal mirror bright, 
Where angels view the Father's light, 
And yet in Him the simplest swain 
May read his homely lesson plain. 

Early to quit his home on earth, 
And claim his high celestial birth, 
Alone with his true Father found* 
Within the temple's solemn round :— - 



* [ " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" ] 



Tuesday in Whit sun-Week. 199 

Yet in meek duty to abide 

For many a year at Mary's side,* 

Nor heed, though restless spirits ask, 

" What ? hath the Christ forgot his task ?" — 

Conscious of Deity within, 
To bow before an heir of sin, 
With folded arms on humble breast, 
By his own servant wash'd and blest it- 
Then full of Heaven, the mystic Dove 
Hovering his gracious brow above, 
To shun the voice and eye of praise, 
And in the wild his trophies raise :± — 

With hymns of angels in his ears, 
Back to his task of woe and tears, 
Unmurmuring through the world to roam 
With not a wish or thought at home : — 

All but himself to heal and save, 

Till ripen' d for the cross and grave 

He to His Father gently yield 

The breath that our redemption seal'd : — 

* [ " And lie went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was 
subject unto them : but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart." ] 

t [ John the Baptist, by whom Jesus was baptized. ] 

% [ From his baptism, Jesus went up into the wilderness, where he was 
tempted. ] 



200 Tuesday in Whitsun-Week. 

Then to unearthly life arise, 
Yet not at once to seek the skies, 
But glide awhile from saint to saint, 
Lest on our lonely way we faint ; 

And through the cloud by glimpses show 
How bright, in Heaven, the marks will glow 
Of the true cross, imprinted deep 
Both on the Shepherd and the sheep:— 

When out of sight, in heart and prayer 
Thy chosen people still to bear, 
And from behind thy glorious veil, 
Shed light that cannot change or fail : — 

This is thy pastoral course, O Lord, 
Till we be sav'd, and Thou ador'd; — 
Thy course and ours — but who are they 
Who follow on the narrow way ? 

And yet of Thee from year to year 
The Church's solemn chant we hear, 
As from thy cradle to thy throne 
She swells her high heart-cheering tone. 

Listen, ye pure white-robed souls, 
W T hom in her list she now enrolls, 
And gird ye for your high emprize 
By these her thrilling minstrelsies. 



Tuesday in Whit sun- Week. 201 

And wheresoe'er, in earth's wide field, 
Ye lift, for Him, the red-cross shield, 
Be this your song, your joy and pride — 
" Our Champion went before and died." 



Qtfnftg Suntrag.' 



If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe 
if I tell you of heavenly things ? St. John iii. 12. 



[Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us, thy 
servants, grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge 
the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the divine 
Majesty to worship the Unity ; we beseech thee that thou wouldst 
keep us steadfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all 
adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without 
end. Amen.] 

CREATOR, Saviour, strengthening Guide, 
Now on Thy mercy's ocean wide 
Far out of sight we seem to glide. 

Help us, each hour, with steadier eye 
To search the deepening mystery, 
The wonders of Thy sea and sky. 

* [ The festival which commemorates the mysterious doctrine of the 
Trinity in Unity. ] 

Q2 



202 Trinity Sunday. 

The blessed angels look and long 
To praise Thee with a worthier song, 
And yet our silence does Thee wrong. — 

Along the Church's central space 
The sacred weeks with unfelt pace 
Have borne us on from grace to grace. 

As travellers on some woodland height, 
When wintry suns are gleaming bright, 
Lose in arch'd glades their tangled sight ; — 

By glimpses such as dreamers love 
Through her gray veil the leafless grove 
Shows where the distant shadows rove ; — 

Such trembling joy the soul o'er-awes 
As nearer to thy shrine she draws : — 
And now before the choir we pause. 

The door is clos'd — but soft and deep 
Around the awful arches sweep 
Such airs as soothe a hermit's sleep. 

From each carv'd nook and fretted bend 

Cornice and gallery seem to send 

Tones that with seraph hymns might blend. 

Three solemn parts together twine 

In harmony's mysterious line ; 

Three solemn aisles approach the shrine : 



Trinity Sunday. 203 

Yet all are One — together all, 

In thoughts that awe but not appal, 

Teach the adoring heart to fall. 

Within these walls each fluttering guest 
Is gently lur'd to one safe nest — 
Without, 'tis moaning and unrest. 

The busy world a thousand ways 

Is hurrying by, nor ever stays 

To catch a note of Thy dear praise. 

Why tarries not her chariot wheel, 
That o'er her with no vain appeal 
One gust of heavenly song might steal ? 

Alas ! for her Thy opening flowers 
Unheeded breathe to summer showers, 
Unheard the music of Thy bowers. 

What echoes from the sacred dome 
The selfish spirit may o'ercome 
That will not hear of love or home ? 

The heart that scorn'd a father's care, 
How can it rise in filial prayer ? 
How an all-seeing Guardian bear 1 

Or how shall envious brethren own 
A Brother on th' eternal throne, 
Their Father's joy, their hope alone ? 



204 Trinity Sunday. 

How shall thy Spirit's gracious wile 
The sullen brow of gloom beguile, 
That frowns on sweet affection's smile ? 

Eternal One, Almighty Trine ! 

(Since thou art ours, and we are Thine) 

By all thy love did once resign, 

By all the grace thy heavens still hide, 
We pray thee, keep us at thy side, 
Creator, Saviour, strengthening Guide ! 



jFfrst SbunTmg after ErfnCtg, 

ISRAEL AMONG THE RUINS OF CANAAN. 

So Joshua smote all the country, and all their kings ; he left none re- 
maining. Joshua x. 40. [First Morning Lesson.] 



[O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee, 
mercifully accept our prayers ; and because, through the weak- 
ness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without thee, 
grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy command- 
ments we may please thee, both in will and deed, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

WHERE is the land with milk and honey flowing, 
The promise of our God, our fancy's theme ? 






First Sunday after Trinity. 205 

Here over shatter'd walls dank weeds are growing, 
And blood and fire have run in mingled stream ; 

Like oaks and cedars all around 

The giant corses strew the ground, 
And haughty Jericho's cloud-piercing wall 
Lies where it sank at Joshua's trumpet call. 

These are not scenes for pastoral dance at even, 
For moonlight rovings in the fragrant glades, 
Soft slumbers in the open eye of heaven, 
And all the listless joy of summer shades. 
We in the midst of ruins live, 
Which every hour dread warning give, 
Nor may our household vine or fig-tree hide 
The broken arches of old Canaan's pride. 

Where is the sweet repose of hearts repenting, 
The deep calm sky, the sunshine of the soul, 
Now heaven and earth are to our bliss consenting, 
And all the Godhead joins to make us whole? 
The triple crown of mercy now 
Is ready for the suppliant's brow, 
By the Almighty Three for ever plann'd, 
And from behind the cloud held out by Jesus' hand. 

" Now, Christians, hold your own — the land before ye 
" Is open — win your way, and take your rest." 

So sounds our war-note ; but our path of glory 
By many a cloud is darken' d and unblest: 



206 First Sunday after Trinity. 

And daily as we downward glide, 

Life's ebbing stream on either side 
Shows at each turn some mouldering hope or joy, 
The Man seems following still the funeral of the Boy, 

Open our eyes, thou Sun of life and gladness, 

That we may see that glorious world of thine ! 
It shines for us in vain, while drooping sadness 
Enfolds us here like mist: come Power benign, 
Touch our chill'd hearts with vernal smile, 
Our wintry course do Thou beguile, 
Nor by the wayside ruins let us mourn, 
Who have th' eternal towers for our appointed bourne. 



Secontr Suutrag after ffrfnfts* 



CHARITY THE LIFE OF FAITH. 



Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have 
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. 1 St. John iii. 13, 
14. [Epistle for the day.~\ 



[O Lord, who never failest to help and govern those whom 
thou dost bring up in thy steadfast fear and love ; keep us, we 
beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and 
make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy name, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

THE clouds that wrap the setting sun 

When Autumn's softest gleams are ending, 

Where all bright hues together run 
In sweet confusion blending: — 

Why, as we watch their floating wreath, 

Seem they the breath of life to breathe ? 

To Fancy's eye their motions prove 

They mantle round the Sun for love. 



208 Second Sunday after Trinity, 

When up some woodland dale we catch 
The many twinkling smile* of ocean, 
Or with pleas'd ear bewilder'd watch 

His chime of restless motion; 
Still as the surging waves retire 
They seem to gasp with strong desire, 
Such signs of love old Ocean gives, 
We cannot choose but think he lives. 

Would'st thou the life of souls discern? 

Nor human wisdom nor divine 
Helps thee by aught beside to learn ; 

Love is life's only sign. 
The spring of the regenerate heart, 
The pulse, the glow of every part, 
Is the true love of Christ our Lord, 
As man embrac'd, as God ador'd. 

But he, whose heart will bound to mark 
The full bright burst of summer morn, 

Loves too each little dewy spark 
By leaf or flow'ret worn : 

Cheap forms, and common hues, 'tis true, 

Through the bright shower-drop meet his view ; 

The colouring may be of this earth ; 

The lustre comes of heavenly birth. 



Trovriaiv rz x.vfA.a.TU>v 

dv'rt^iB/Aov yi\cL<r fj.cn. jEscbyl. Prom. 89. 



Second Sunday after Trinity. 209 

Even so, who loves the Lord aright, 

No soul of man can worthless find ; 
All will be precious in his sight, 

Since Christ on all hath shin'd : 
But chiefly Christian souls ; for they, 
Though worn and soil'd with sinful clay, 
Are yet, to eyes that see them true, 
All glistening with baptismal dew. 

Then marvel not, if such as bask 

In purest light of innocence, 
Hope against hope, in love's dear task,_ 

Spite of all dark offence. 
If they who hate the trespass most, 
Yet, when all other love is lost, 
Love the poor sinner, marvel not ; 
Christ's mark outwears the rankest blot. 

No distance breaks the tie of blood ; 

Brothers are brothers evermore ; 
Nor wrong, nor wrath of deadliest mood, 

That magic may o'erpower ; 
Oft, ere the common source be known, 
The kindred drops will claim their own, 
And throbbing pulses silently 
Move heart towards heart by sympathy. 

So is it with true Christian hearts ; 
Their mutual share in Jesus' blood 



210 Second Sunday after Trinity, 

An everlasting bond imparts 

Of holiest brotherhood : 
Oh ! might we all our lineage prove, 
Give and forgive, do good and love, 
By soft endearments in kind strife 
Lightening the load of daily life ! 

There is much need : for not as yet 
Are we in shelter or repose, 

The holy house is still beset 
With leaguer of stern foes ; 

Wild thoughts within, bad men without, 

All evil spirits round about, 

Are banded in unblest device, 

To spoil Love's earthly paradise. 

Then draw we nearer day by day, 

Each to his brethren, all to God ; 
Let the world take us as she may, 
We must not change our road ; 
Not wondering, though in grief, to find 
The martyr's foe still keep her mind ; 
But fix'd to hold Love's banner fast, 
And by submission win at last. 



&iurtr Stwtrag after &rtnttg- 



COMFORT FOR SINNERS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GOOD. 



There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that re- 
penteth. St. Luke xv. 10. [Gospel for the dmj.] 



[O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us ; and grant that 
we, to whom thou hast given a hearty desire to pray, may, by 
thy mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and 
adversities, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

O HATEFUL spell of Sin ! when friends are nigh, 
To make stern Memory tell her tale unsought, 

And raise accusing shades of hours gone by, 
To come between us and all kindly thought ! 

Chill'd at her touch, the self-reproaching soul 
Flies from the heart and home she dearest loves 

To where lone mountains tower, or billows roll, 
Or to your endless depth, ye solemn groves. 

In vain : the averted cheek in loneliest dell 
Is conscious of a gaze it cannot bear, 



212 Third Sunday after Trinity. 

The leaves that rustle near us seem to tell 
Our heart's sad secret to the silent air. 

Nor is the dream untrue : for all around 

The heavens are watching with their thousand eyes- 
We cannot pass our guardian angel's bound, 

Resign'd or sullen, he will hear our sighs. 

He in the mazes of the budding wood 

Is near, and mourns to see our thankless glance 

Dwell coldly, where the fresh green earth is strew'd 
With the first flowers that lead the vernal dance. 

In wasteful bounty shower'd, they smile unseen, 
Unseen by man — but what if purer sprights 

By moonlight o'er their dewy bosoms lean 
T' adore the Father of all gentle lights ? 

If such there be, O grief and shame to think 
That sight of thee should overcloud their joy, 

A newborn soul, just waiting on the brink 
Of endless life, yet wrapt in earth's annoy ! 

turn, and be thou turn'd ! the selfish tear, 
In bitter thoughts of low born care begun, 

Let it flow on, but flow refin'd and clear, 
The turbid waters brightening as they run. 

Let it flow on, till all thine earthly heart 
In penitential drops have ebb'd away, 



Third Sunday after Trinity. 213 

Then fearless turn where Heaven hath set thy part, 
Nor shudder at the eye that saw thee stray. 

O lost and found ! all gentle souls below 

Their dearest welcome shall prepare, and prove 

Such joy o'er thee, as raptur'd seraphs know, 
Who learn their lesson at the Throne of Love. 



jFourtfi Stwtrag after &rfmtg. 

THE GROANS OF NATURE. 

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation 
of the sons of God : for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, 
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope ; because the 
creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the 
glorious liberty of the children of God : for we know that the whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Rom. viii. 19—22. 
[Epistle for the day.] 



[O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom 
nothing is strong, nothing is holy ; increase and multiply upon 
us thy mercy ; that thou being our ruler and guide, we may so 
pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things 
eternal: grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake 
our Lord. Amen.] 

IT was not then a poet's dream, 
An idle vaunt of song, 
r 2 



214 Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 

Such as beneath the moon's soft gleam 
On vacant fancies throng ; 

Which bids us see in heaven and earth, 

In all fair things around, 
Strong yearnings for a blest new birth 

With sinless glories crown'd; 

Which bids us hear, at each sweet pause 
From care and want and toil, 

When dewy eve her curtain draws 
Over the day's turmoil, 

In the low chant of wakeful birds, 
In the deep weltering flood, 

In whispering leaves, these solemn words- 
" God made us all for good." 

All true, all faultless, all in tune, 
Creation's wondrous choir 

Open'd in mystic unison 
To last till time expire. 

And still it lasts : by day and night, 
With one consenting voice, 

All hymn thy glory, Lord, aright, 
All worship and rejoice. 

Man only mars the sweet accord, 
O'erpowering with " harsh din" 



Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 215 

The music of thy works and word, 
111 match' d with grief and sin. 

Sin is with man at morning break, 

And through the live-long day 
Deafens the ear that fain would wake 

To Nature's simple lay. 

But when eve's silent foot-fall steals 

Along the eastern sky, 
And one by one to earth reveals 

Those purer fires on high, 

When one by one each human sound 

Dies on the awful ear, 
Then Nature's voice no more is drown'd, 

She speaks and we must hear. 

Then pours she on the Christian heart 

That warning still and deep, 
At which high spirits of old would start 

Even from their Pagan sleep, 

Just guessing, through their murky blind, 

Few, faint, and baffling sight, 
Streaks of a brighter heaven behind 

A cloudless depth of light. 

Such thoughts, the wreck of Paradise, 
Through many a dreary age, 



216 Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 

Upbore whate'er of good and wise 
Yet lived in bard or sage : 

They mark'd what agonizing throes 
Shook the great mother's womb ; 

But Reason's spells might not disclose 
The gracious birth to come ; 

Nor could th' enchantress Hope forecast 
God's secret love and power; 

The travail pangs of Earth must last 
Till her appointed hour ; 

The hour that saw from opening heaven 

Redeeming glory stream, 
Beyond the summer hues of even, 

Beyond the mid-day beam. 

Thenceforth, to eyes of high desire, 
The meanest things below, 

As with a seraph's robe of fire 
Invested, burn and glow : 

The rod of heaven has touch' d them all, 
The word from heaven is spoken ; 

" Rise, shine, and sing, thou captive thrall ; 
" Are not thy fetters broken ? 

" The God who hallow'd thee and blest, 
" Pronouncing thee all good — 



Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 217 

" Hath He not all thy wrongs redrest, 
" And all thy bliss renew'd ? 

" Why mourn'st thou still as one bereft, 

" Now that th' eternal Son, 
" His blessed home in heaven hath left 

" To make thee all his own ?" 

i 

Thou mourn'st because Sin lingers still 

In Christ's new heaven and earth ; 
Because our rebel works and will 

Stain our immortal birth : 

Because, as Love and Prayer grow cold, 

The Saviour hides his face, 
And worldlings blot the temple's gold 

With uses vile and base. 

Hence all thy groans and travail pains, 

Hence, till thy God return, 
In wisdom's ear thy blithest strains, 

Oh Nature, seem to mourn. 



iFtftft Sttntrag after Evinity. 

THE FISHERMEN OF BETHSAIDA. 

And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, 
and have taken nothing : nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net : 
and when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes, and 
their net brake. St. Luke v. 5. [Gospel for the day.] 

[Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world 
may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church 
may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen."] 

" THE livelong night we've toiled in vain, 

" But at thy gracious word 
" I will let down the net again : — 

" Do thou thy will, O Lord !" 

So spake the weary fisher, spent 

With bootless darkling toil, 
Yet on his Master's bidding bent 

For love and not for spoil. 

So day by day and week by week, 
In sad and weary thought, 



Fifth Sunday after Trinity. , 219 

They muse, whom God hath set to seek 
The souls his Christ hath bought. 

For not upon a tranquil lake 

Our pleasant task we ply, 
Where all along our glistening wake 

The softest moonbeams lie ; 

Where rippling wave and dashing oar 

Our midnight chant attend, 
Or whispering palm-leaves from the shore 

With midnight silence blend. 

Sweet thoughts of peace, ye may not last : 

Too soon some ruder sound 
Calls us from where ye soar so fast 

Back to our earthly round. 

For wildest storms our ocean sweep : — 

No anchor but the Cross 
Might hold : and oft the thankless deep 

Turns all our toil to loss. 

Full many a dreary anxious hour 

We watch our nets alone 
In drenching spray, and driving shower, 

And hear the night-bird's moan : 

At morn we look, and nought is there ; 
Sad dawn of cheerless day ! 



220 Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 

Who then from pining and despair 
The sickening heart can stay ? 

There is a stay — and we are strong ; 

Our Master is at hand, 
To cheer our solitary song, 

And guide us to the strand, 

In his own time : but yet awhile 

Our bark at sea must ride : 
Cast after cast, by force or guile 

All waters must be tried : 

By blameless guile or gentle force, 

As when He deign'd to teach 
(The lode-star of our Christian course) 

Upon this sacred beach. 

Should e'er thy wonder-working grace 

Triumph by our weak arm, 
Let not our sinful fancy trace 

Aught human in the charm : 

To our own nets* ne'er bow we down, 

Lest on the eternal shore 
The angels, while our draught they own,t 

Reject us evermore : 

* Habakkuk i. 16. They sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto 
their drag, 
t St. Matthew xiii. 49. 



Fifth Sunday after Trinity. 221 

Or, if for our unworthiness 

Toil, prayer, and watching fail, 
In disappointment thou canst bless, 

So love at heart prevail. 



frtlt SuntJag after Kvinity. 



THE PSALMIST REPENTING. 

David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord : and Nathan 
said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin : thou shalt not die. 
2 Samuel xii. 13. [First Morning Lesson, Church of England."] 



[O God, who hast prepared for those who love thee, such good 
things as pass man's understanding ; pour into our hearts such 
love towards thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may 
obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

WHEN bitter thoughts, of conscience born, 

With sinners wake at morn, 
When from our restless couch we start, 
With fever'd lips and wither'd heart, 
Where is the spell to charm those mists away, 
And make new morning in that darksome day ? 
One draught of spring's delicious air, 
One stedfast thought, that God is there, 
s 



222 Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 

These are thy wonders, hourly wrought,* 
Thou Lord of time and thought, 

Lifting and lowering souls at will, 

Crowding a world of good or ill 
Into a moment's vision : even as light 
Mounts o'er a cloudy ridge, and all is bright, 

From west to east one thrilling ray 

Turning a wintry world to May. 

Wouldst thou the pangs of guilt assuage ? 
Lo here an open page, 

* [ " How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean 
Are thy returns ! even as the flowers in spring ; 
To which besides their own demean, 
The late past frosts tributes of pleasure bring. 
Grief melts away 
Like snow in May, 
As if there were no such cold thing. 

" Who would have thought my shrivelled heart 

Could have recovered greenness ? It was gone 
Quite under ground, as flowers depart 
To see their mother-root, when they have flown ; 
Where they together 
All the hard weather 
Dead to the world, keep house unknown. 

" These are thy wonders, Lord of power, 

Killing and quickening, bringing down to hell 
And up to heaven in an hour, 
Making a chiming of a passing bell. 
We say amiss, 
This or that is — 
Thy word is all, if we could spell." 

Herbert's Poems (1641), p. 160. J 



Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 223 

Where heavenly mercy shines as free, 

Written in balm, sad heart, for thee. 
Never so fast, in silent April shower, 
Flush'd into green the dry and leafless bower,* 

As Israel's crowned mourner felt 

The dull hard stone within him melt. 

The absolver saw the mighty grief, 
And hasten'd with relief; — 

" The Lord forgives; thou shalt not die :" — 

'Twas gently spoke, yet heard on high, 
And all the band of angels, us'd to sing 
In heaven, accordant to his raptur'd string, 

Who many a month had turn'd away 

With veiled eyes, nor own'd his lay, 

Now spread their wings, and throng around 
To the glad mournful sound, 

And welcome, with bright open face, 

The broken heart to love's embrace.! 
The rock is smitten, and to future years 
Springs ever fresh the tide of holy tears! 



* And all this leafless and uncolour'd scene 
Shall flush into variety again. 

Cowper. 

f [ The idea, in this stanza, of the angels, who had been wont to sing in 
tune with David's lyre, offended by his grievous fall, but, on the instant of 
his penitence, restored to sympathizing joy, is beyond all praise. " There is 
joy among the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." ] 
% The fifty-first Psalm. 



224 Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 

And holy music, whispering peace 
Till time and sin together cease. 

There drink : and when ye are at rest, 
With that free Spirit blest,* 

Who to the contrite can dispense 

The princely heart of innocence, 
If ever, floating from faint earthly lyre. 
Was wafted to your soul one high desire, 

By all the trembling hope ye feel, 

Think on the minstrel as ye kneel : 

Think on the shame, that dreadful hour 
When tears shall have no power, 

Should his own lay th' accuser prove 

Cold, while he kindled others 5 love : 
And let your prayer for charity arise, 
That his own heart may hear his melodies, 

And a true voice to him may cry, 

" Thy God forgives — thou shalt not die." 

* Psalm li. 12. " Uphold me with thy free Spirit." The original word 
seems to mean " ingenuous, princely, noble." Read Bishop Home's Para- 
phrase on the verse. [ " He prayeth to be continued in that state of salva- 
tion, by the Spirit of God, which might enable him to act as became a pro- 
phet and a king, free from base desires and enslaving lusts." ] 






Sefoeiuft Suntrag after ^rtntt^. 

THE FEAST IN THE WILDERNESS. 

From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilder- 
ness ? St. Mark viii. 4. [ Gospel for the day.] 



[Lord of all power and might, who art the author and giver of 
all good things ; graft in our hearts the love of thy name, in- 
crease in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of 
thy great mercy keep us in the same, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen.'] * 

GO not away, thou weary soul : 

Heaven has in store a precious dole 
Here on Bethsaida's cold and darksome height, 

Where over rocks and sands arise 

Proud Sirion in the northern skies, 
And Tabor's lonely peak, 'twixtthee and noon-day light 

And far below, Gennesaret's main 
Spreads many a mile of liquid plain,* 

* [ " Clear as a crystal mirror in the beam 
Of morn, Tiberias' lake expanded lay, 

s2 



226 Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 

(Though all seem gather' d in one eager bound), 
Then narrowing cleaves yon palmy lea, 
Towards that deep sulphureous sea, 

Where five proud cities lie, by one dire sentence drown'd. 

Landscape of fear! yet, weary heart, 

Thou need'st not in thy gloom depart, 
Nor fainting turn to seek thy distant home : 

Sweetly thy sickening throbs are ey'd 

By the kind Saviour at thy side ; 
For healing and for balm even now thine hour is come. 

No fiery wing is seen to glide, 

No cates ambrosial are supplied, 
But one poor fisher's rude and scanty store 

Is all He asks (and more than needs) 

Who men and angels daily feeds, 
And stills the wailing sea-bird on the hungry shore. 

The feast is o'er, the guests are gone, 
And over all that upland lone 



As clear and smooth : save where old Jordan's stream 

Marked through that mirror clear his dimpled way. 
The mist that spread a shadowy veil, at length 

Slow up the mountain's side its skirts hath rolled, 
And see the sun, rejoicing in his strength, 

Now tip the rocks, now spread the lake with gold, 
His sparkling rays on rich Bethsaida fling, 

And light Capernaum's towers, tall palms, and limpid spring." 

Bishop Mant, Gospel Miracles, p. 47. ] 



Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 227 

The breeze of eve sweeps wildly as of old — 
But far unlike the former dreams, 
The heart's sweet moonlight softly gleams 

Upon life's varied view, so joyless erst and cold. 

As mountain travellers in the night, 

When heaven by fits is dark and bright, 
Pause listening on the silent heath, and hear 

Nor trampling hoof nor tinkling bell 

Then bolder scale the rugged fell, 
Conscious the more of One, ne'er seen, yet ever near : 

So when the tones of rapture gay 

On the lorn ear die quite away, 
The lonely world seems lifted nearer heaven ; 

Seen daily, yet unmark'd before, 

Earth's common paths are strewed all o'er 
With flowers of pensive hope, the wreath of man for- 
given. 

The low sweet tones of Nature's lyre 

No more on listless ears expire, 
Nor vainly smiles along the shady way 

The primrose in her vernal nest, 

Nor unlamented sink to rest 
Sweet roses one by one, nor autumn leaves decay. 

There's not a star the heaven can show, 
There's not a cottage hearth below, 



228 Seventh Sunday after Trinity. 

But feeds with solace kind the willing- soul — 
Men love us, or they need our love ; 
Freely they own, or heedless prove 

The curse of lawless hearts, the joy of self-control. 

Then rouse thee from desponding sleep, 

Nor by the wayside lingering weep, 
Nor fear to seek Him farther in the wild, 

Whose love can turn earth's worst and least 

Into a conqueror's royal feast : 
Thou wilt not be untrue, thou shalt not be beguil'd. 



SBtghtfi Sunttag after 2Tn'uttg- 

THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET. 

It is the man of God, who was disobedient to the word of the Lord. I 
Kings xiii. 26. [First Lesson, Morning Service, Church of England.] 

[O God, whose never failing providence ordereth all things 
both in heaven and earth ; we humbly beseech thee to put away 
from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are 
profitable for us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, jimen.] 

PROPHET of God, arise and take 
With thee the words of wrath divine, 

The scourge of Heaven, to shake 

O'er yon apostate shrine. 



Eighth Sunday after Trinity, 229 

Where angels down the lucid stair 
Came hovering to our sainted sires, 

Now, in the twilight, glare. 

The heathen's wizard fires. 

Go, with thy voice the altar rend, 
Scatter the ashes, be the arm, 

That idols would befriend, 

Shrunk at thy withering charm. 

Then turn thee, for thy time is short, 
But trace not o'er the former way, 

Lest idol pleasures court 

Thy heedless soul astray. 

Thou know'st how hard to hurry by, 
Where on the lonely woodland road 

Beneath the moonlight sky 

The festal warblings flow'd ; 

Where maidens to the Queen of Heaven 
Wove the gay dance round oak or palm, 

Or breath'd their vows at even 

In hymns as soft as balm. 

Or thee perchance a darker spell 
Enthralls : the smooth stones of the flood,* 



* Isaiah lvii. 6. Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion 
they, they are thy lot. 



230 Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 

By mountain grot or fell, 
Pollute with infant's blood; 

The giant altar on the rock, 
The cavern whence the timbrel's call 
Affrights the wandering flock : — 
Thou long'st to search them all. 

Trust not the dangerous path again — 
forward step and lingering will ! 

lov'd and warn'd in vain ! 

And wilt thou perish still ? 

Thy message given, thine home in sight, 
To the forbidden feast return ? 
Yield to the false delight 
Thy better soul could spurn ? 

Alas, my brother ! round thy tomb 
In sorrow kneeling, and in fear, 
We read the Pastor's doom 
Who speaks and will not hear. 

The grey-hair' d saint may fail at last, 
The surest guide a wanderer prove ; 
Death only binds us fast 
To the bright shore of love. 



CntJi ^untrag after STrtuttg, 



ELIJAH IN HOREB. 

And after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire : and 
after the fire, a still small voice. 1 Kings xix. 12. [First Evening Lesson. 
Church of England.] 



[Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do 
always such things as are right ; that we, who cannot do any thing 
that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live accord- 
ing to thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

IN troublous days of anguish and rebuke, 
While sadly round them Israel's children look, 

And their eyes fail for waiting on their Lord : 
While underneath each awful arch of green, 
On every mountain top, God's chosen scene 

Of pure heart-worship, Baal is ador'd : 

'Tis well, true hearts should for a time retire 
To holy ground, in quiet to aspire 

Towards promis'd regions of serener grace ; 



232 Ninth Sunday after Trinity. 

On Horeb, with Elijah, let us lie, 
Where all around on mountain, sand, and sky, 
God's chariot-wheels have left distinctest trace : 

There, if in jealousy and strong disdain 
We to the sinner's God of sin complain, 

Untimely seeking here the peace of heaven — 
" It is enough, O Lord ! now let me die 
" Even as my fathers did : for what am I 

" That I should stand, where they have vainly stri- 
ven?"— 

Perhaps our God may of our conscience ask, 

" What doest thou here, frail wanderer from thy task ? 

" Where hast thou left those few sheep in the wild?"* 
Then should we plead our heart's consuming pain, 
At sight of ruin'd altars, prophets slain, 

And God's own ark with blood of souls defil'd ; 

He on the rock may bid us stand, and see 
The outskirts of his march of mystery, 

His endless warfare with man's wilful heart ; 
First, His great Power He to the sinner shows, 
Lo ! at His angry blast the rocks unclose, 

And to their base the trembling mountains part : 

Yet the Lord is not here : 'tis not by Power 
He will be known — but darker tempests lower ; 

* 1 Sam.xviL 28. 



Ninth Sunday a r ter Trinity, 233 

Still, sullen heavings vex the labouring ground : 
Perhaps His Presence thro' all depth and height, 
Best of all gems, that deck his crown of light, 

The haughty eye may dazzle and confound. 

God is not in the earthquake ; but behold 
From Sinai's caves are bursting, as of old, 

The flames of his consuming jealous ire. 
Woe to the sinner, should stern justice prove 
His chosen attribute ; — but he in love 

Hastes to proclaim, " God is not in the fire." 

The storm is o'er — and hark ! a still small voice 
Steals on the ear, to say, Jehovah's choice 

Is ever with the soft, meek, tender soul : 
By soft, meek, tender ways He loves to draw* 
The sinner, startled by his ways of awe : 

Here is our Lord, and not where thunders roll. 

Back then, complainer ; loath thy life no more, 
Nor deem thyself upon a desert shore, 

Because the rocks the nearer prospect close. 
Yet in fallen Israel are their hearts and eyest 

* [ Beautifully descriptive of the Saviour's way of drawing sinners unto 
him. " He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in 
the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not 
quench." St. Matthew xii. 20. ] 

t [ " Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which 
have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." 
1 Kings xix. 18. ] 

T 



234 Ninth Sunday after Trinity, 

That day by day in prayer like thine arise : 

Thou know'st them not, but their Creator knows.* 



* [ 2T&e Synagogue. 

" But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 
Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away." 
St. Paul. 

I saw them in their synagogue, as in their ancient day, 
And never from my memory the scene will fade away, 
For dazzling on my vision still, the latticed galleries shine 
With Israel's loveliest daughters, in their beauty half divine ! 

It is the holy Sabbath eve, — the solitary light 

Sheds, mingled with the hues of day, a lustre nothing bright ; 

On swarthy brow and piercing glance it falls with saddening tinge, 

And dimly gilds the Pharisee's phylacteries and fringe. 

The two leaved doors slide slow apart before the eastern screen, 
As rise the Hebrew harmonies, with chanted prayers between, 
And mid the tissued vails disclosed, of many a gorgeous dye, 
Enveloped in their jewelled scarfs, the sacred records lie. 

Robed in his sacerdotal vest, a silvery headed man 
With voice of solemn cadence o'er the backward letters ran, 
And often yet methinks I see the glow and power that sate 
Upon his face, as forth he spread the roll immaculate. 

And fervently that hour I prayed, that from the mighty scroll, 
Its light, in burning characters, might break on every soul, 
That on their hardened hearts the vail might be no longer dark, 
But be for ever rent in twain like that before the ark. 

For yet the tenfold film shall fall, O Judah ! from thy sight, 
And every eye be purged to read thy testimonies right, 
When thou, with all Messiah's signs in Christ distinctly seen, 
Shall, by Jehovah's nameless name, invoke the Nazarene. 

Rev. William Croswell. ] 






Ninth Sunday after Trinity. 235 

Go, to the world return, nor fear to cast 
Thy bread upon the waters, sure at last* 

In joy to find it after many days. 
The work be thine, the fruit thy children's part : 
Choose to believe, not see : sight tempts the heart 

From sober walking in true Gospel ways. 



ftznth Sutrtrag after Erinftg- 

CHRIST WEEPING OVER JERUSALEM. 

And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it. St. 
Luke Tax. 41. [Oospel for the day.] 

[Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy 
humble servants ; and that they may obtain their petitions, make 
them to ask such things as shall please thee, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.] 

WHY doth my Saviour weep 

At sight of Sion's bowers ? 
Shows it not fair from yonder steep, 

Her gorgeous crown of towers ? 
Mark well his holy pains : 

'Tis not in pride or scorn, 

* Eccles. xi. 1. 



236 Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 

That Israel's King with sorrow stains 
His own triumphal morn. 

It is not that his soul 

Is wandering sadly on, 
In thought how soon at death's dark goal 

Their course will all be run, 
Who now are shouting round 

Hosanna to their chief; 
No thought like this in Him is found, 

This were a Conqueror's grief.* 

Or doth he feel the Cross 

Already in his heart, 
The pain, the shame, the scorn, the loss ? 

Feel even his God depart ? 
No : though he knew full well 

The grief that then shall be — 
The grief that angels cannot tell — 

Our God in agony. 

It is not thus he mourns ; 

Such might be Martyr's tears, 



* Compare Herod, vii. 46. [ " When he (Xerxes) saw the Hellespont cov- 
ered with ships, and the whole shore and plains of Abydos filled with soldiers, 
he at first congratulated himself, on his good fortune ; but soon after, he shed 
tears." — " When I reflect," says he, "on the shortness of human life, and 
that of so many myriads of men, not one will remain one hundred years, I 
am overwhelmed with grief." — Strarige inconsistency in one who was hur- 
rying thousands of them to an untimely death ! But such is man. ] 



Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 237 

When his last lingering look he turns 

On human hopes and fears ; 
But hero ne'er or saint 

The secret load might know, 
With which His spirit waxeth faint ; 

His is a Saviour's woe. 

"If thou hadst known, even thou, 

" At least in this thy day, 
" The message of thy peace ! but now 

" 'Tis pass'd for aye away : 
" Now foes shall trench thee round, 

" And lay thee even with earth, 
"And dash thy children to the ground, 
Thy glory and thy mirth." 



a 



And doth the Saviour weep 

Over his people's sin, 
Because we will not let him keep 

The souls He died to win ? 
Ye hearts, that love the Lord, 

If at this sight ye burn, 
See that in thought, in deed, in word, 

Ye hate what made Him mourn. 



t2 



3Eiei)entft Sturtas after Evinits. 



GEHAZI REPROVED. 



Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive yards, and 
vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men servants, and maid servants ? 2 
Kings v. 26. [First Morning Lesson, Church of England.] 



[O God, who declares! thy Almighty power chiefly in showing 
mercy and pity ; mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy 
grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may ob- 
tain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy hea- 
venly treasure, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

IS this a time to plant and build, 
Add house to house, and field to field, 
When round our walls the battle lowers, 
When mines are hid beneath our towers, 
And watchful foes are stealing round 
To search and spoil the holy ground? 

Is this a time for moonlight dreams 
Of love and home by mazy streams, 
For Fancy with her shadowy toys, 
Aerial hopes and pensive joys, 



Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 239 

While souls are wandering far and wide, 
And curses swarm on every side ? 

No — rather steel thy melting heart 
To act the martyr's sternest part, 
To watch, with firm unshrinking eye, 
Thy darling visions as they die, 
Till all bright hopes, and hues of day 
Have faded into twilight gray. 

Yes — let them pass without a sigh, 

And if the world seem dull and dry, 

If long and sad thy lonely hours, 

And winds have rent thy sheltering bowers, 

Bethink thee what thou art, and where, 

A sinner in a life of care. 

The fire of God is soon to fall 
(Thou know'st it) on this earthly ball ; 
Full many a soul, the price of blood, 
Mark'd by th' Almighty's hand for good, 
To utter death that hour shall sweep — 
And will the Saints in Heaven dare weep ? 

Then in his wrath shall God uproot 
The trees He set, for lack of fruit, 
And drown in rude tempestuous blaze 
The towers His hand had deign'd to raise ; 
In silence, ere that storm begin, 
Count o'er His mercies and thy sin. 



240 Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 

Pray only that thine aching heart, 
From visions vain content to part, 
Strong for love's sake its woe to hide 
May cheerful wait the cross beside, 
Too happy, if that dreadful day, 
Thy life be given thee for a prey.* 

Snatch'd sudden from th' avenging rod, 
Safe in the bosom of thy God, 
How wilt thou then look back, and smile 
On thoughts that bitterest seem'd ere while, 
And bless the pangs that made thee see, 
This was no world of rest for thee ! 

* Jeremiah xlv. 4, 5. The Lord saith thus: Behold, that which I have 
built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even 
this whole land. And seekestthou great things for thyself? seek them not, 
for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord ; but thy life will I 
give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest. 



TOaeiftSt Stmtrag after Sfrtm'ts* 



THE DEAF AND DUMB. 



And looking up to Heaven, He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, 
that is, Be opened. St. Mark vii. 34. [Gospel for the day.] 



[Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to 
hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we 
desire or deserve ; pour down upon us the abundance of thy 
mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, 
and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, 
but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ thy Son our 
Lord. Amen.] 

THE Son of God in doing good 

Was fain to look to heaven and sigh : 

And shall the heirs of sinful blood 
Seek joy unmix' d in charity ? 

God will not let Love's work impart 

Full solace, lest it steal the heart ; 

Be thou content in tears to sow, 

Blessing, like Jesus, in thy woe. 



242 Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 

He look'd to heaven, and sadly sigh'd — 
What saw my gracious Saviour there, 
, With fear and anguish to divide 

The joy of Heaven-accepted prayer! 
So o'er the bed where Lazarus slept 
He to his Father groan'd and wept : 
What saw he mournful in that grave, 
Knowing himself so strong to save ? 

O'erwhelming thoughts of pain and grief 

Over his sinking spirit sweep ; — 
" What boots it gathering one lost leaf 
" Out of yon sere and wither' d heap, 
" Where souls and bodies, hopes and joys, 
" All that earth owns or sin destroys, 
" Under the spurning hoof are cast, 
" Or tossing in the autumnal blast ?" 

The deaf may hear the Saviour's voice, 

The fetter' d tongue its chain may break ; 
But the deaf heart, the dumb by choice, 
The laggard soul, that will not wake, 
The guilt that scorns to be forgiven ; — 
These baffle e'en the spells of heaven ; 
In thought of these, his brows benign 
Not even in healing cloudless shine. 

No eye but His might ever bear 
To gaze all down that drear abyss, 



Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 243 

Because none never saw so clear 

The shore of endless bliss : 
The giddy waves so restless hurl'd, 
The vex'd pulse of this feverish world, 
He views and counts with steady sight 
Used to behold the Infinite. 

But that in such communion high 
He hath a fount of strength within, 

Sure His meek heart would break and die, 
O'erburthen'd by his brethren's sin ; 

Weak eyes on darkness dare not gaze, 

It dazzles like the noon-day blaze ; 

But He who sees God's face may brook 

On the true face of Sin to look. 

What then shall wretched sinners do, 

When in their last, their hopeless day, 
Sin, as it is, shall meet their view, 
God turn his face for aye away ? 
Lord by thy sad and earnest eye, 
When Thou didst look to heaven and sigh ; 
Thy voice, that with a word could chase 
The dumb, deaf spirit from his place ; 

As thou hast touch'd our ears, and taught 
Our tongues to speak thy praises plain, 

Quell thou each thankless, godless thought 
That would make fast our bonds again. 



244 Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. 

From worldly strife, from mirth unblest, 
Drowning thy music in the breast, 
From foul reproach, from thrilling fears, 
Preserve, good Lord, thy servants' ears. 

From idle words, that restless throng, 

And haunt our hearts when we would pray, 
From pride's false chime, and jarring wrong 

Seal Thou my lips, and guard the way : 
For Thou hast sworn, that every ear, 
Willing or loth, thy trump shall hear, 
And every tongue unchained be 
To own no hope, no God, but Thee. 



arfifrteortii Suntras after Erinttg- 



MOSES ON THE MOUNT. 



And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the 
eyes which see the things that ye see : for I tell you, that many prophets and 
kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them: 
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. St. 
Luke x. 23, 24. [Gospel for the day.] 



[Almighty and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that 
thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service ; grant, 
we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, 
that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises, through 
the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

ON Sinai's top, in prayer and trance, 

Full forty nights and forty days 
The Prophet watch'd for one dear glance 

Of Thee and of thy ways : 

Fasting he watch'd and all alone, 

Wrapt in a still, dark, solid cloud, 
The curtain of the Holy One 

Drawn round him like a shroud : 
u 



246 Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

So, separate from trie world, his breast 

Might duly take and strongly keep 
The print of Heaven, to be express'd 

Ere long on Sion's steep.* 

There one by one his spirit saw 

Of things divine the shadows bright, 

The pageant of God's perfect law ; 
Yet felt not full idelight. 

Through gold and gems, a dazzling maze, 

From veil to veil the vision led, 
And ended, where unearthly rays 

From o'er the Ark were shed. 

Yet not that gorgeous place, nor aught 

Of human or angelic frame, 
Could half appease his craving thought ; 

The void was still the same. 

" Show me thy glory, gracious Lord! 

" 'Tis Thee," he cries, " not thine, I seek."t— 
Nay, start not at so bold a word 

From man, frail worm and weak : 

The spark of his first deathless fire 
Yet buoys him up, and high above 



* See that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee 
in the mount. Hebrews viii. 5. 
t Exodus xxxiii. 18. 






Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 247 

The holiest creature, dares aspire 
To the Creator's love. 

The eye in smiles may wander round, 
Caught by earth's shadows as they fleet ; 

But for the soul no help is found, 
Save Him who made it, meet. 

Spite of yourselves, ye witness this,* 

Who blindly self or sense adore ; 
Else wherefore leaving your own bliss 

Still restless ask ye more ? 

This witness bore the saints of old 
When highest rapt and favour' d most, 

Still seeking precious things untold, 
Not in fruition lost. 



* Pensees de Pascal, part 1, art. viii. [ " Considerons le maintenant a 
l'egard de la felicite qu'il recherche avec tant d'ardeur en toutes ses actions. 
Car tous les hommes desirent d'etre heureux ; cela est sans exception. 
Q,uelques differents moyens qu'ils y emploient, ils tendent tous a ce but. 
Ce qui fait que l'un va a la guerre, et que I'autre n'y va pas ; c'est ce meine 
desir qui est dans tous les deux, accompagne de differentes vues. I«i vo- 
lonte ne fait jamais la moindre demarche que vers cet objet. C'est le motif 
de toutes les actions de tous les hommes, jusqu' a ceux qui se tuent et qui se 
pendent. 

"Et ce pendant depuis un de grand nombre d'annees, jamais personne, 
sans la foi, n'est arrive a ce point, ou tous tendent continuellement. Tous 
se plaignent, Principes, Sujets ; nobles, roturiers ; vieillards, jeunes ; forts, 
foibles 5 savants, ignorants ; sains, malades ; de tout pays, de tout temps ; 
de tous ages, et de toutes conditions." ] 



248 Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

Canaan was theirs, and in it all 

The proudest hope of kings dare claim ; 

Sion was theirs ; and at their call 
Fire from Jehovah came. 

Yet monarchs walk'd as pilgrims still 

In their own land, earth's pride and grace ; 

And seers would mourn on Sion's hill 
Their Lord's averted face. 

Vainly they tried the deeps to sound 
Even of their own prophetic thought, 

When of Christ crucified and crown'd 
His Spirit in them taught : 

But He their aching gaze repress'd, 
Which sought behind the veil to see, 

For not without us fully bless'd* 
Or perfect might they be. 

The rays of the Almighty's face 

No sinner's eye might then receive ; 

Only the meekest man found gracef 
To see his skirts and live. 

But we as in a glass espy 

The glory of His countenance, 



* Hebrews xi. 40. That they without us should not be made perfect. 
J Exodus xxxiii. 20 — 23. 



Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. 249 

Not in a whirlwind hurrying by 
The too presumptuous glance, 

But with mild radiance every hour, 

From our dear Saviour's face benign 
Bent on us with transforming power, 

Till we, too, faintly shine. 

Sprinkled with His atoning blood 

Safely before our God we stand, 
As on the rock the Prophet stood, 

Beneath his shadowing hand. — 

Bless'd eyes, which see the things we see ! 

And yet this tree of life hath prov'd 
To many a soul a poison tree, 

Beheld, and not belov'dr 

So like an angel's is our bliss 

(Oh ! thought to comfort and appal) 
It needs must bring, if us'd amiss, 

An angel's hopeless fall. 



u 2 



jFourtrrntJi Sttntrag after ftvinity. 



THE TEN LEPERS. 



And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed ? but where are 
the nine ? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this 
stranger. St. Luke xvii. 17, 18. [Gospel for the day.] 



[Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of « 
faith, hope and charity ; and that we may obtain that which thou 
dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

TEN cleans'd, and only one remain ! 
Who would have thought our nature's stain 
Was dyed so foul, so deep in grain ? 

Even He who reads the heart, — 
Knows what He gave and what we lost, ' 
Sin's forfeit, and redemption's cost, — 
By a short pang of wonder cross'd 

Seems at the sight to start : 

Yet 'twas not wonder, but His love 
Our wavering spirits would reprove, 



Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 251 

That heaven-ward seem so free to move 

When earth can yield no more : 
Then from afar on God we cry ; 
But should the mist of woe roll by, 
Not showers across an April sky 

Drift, when the storm is o'er, 

Faster than those false drops and few 
Fleet from the heart, a worthless dew. 
What sadder scene can angels view 

Than self-deceiving tears, 
Pour'd idly over some dark page 
Of earlier life, though pride or rage 
The record of to-day engage, 

A woe for future years ? 

Spirits, that round the sick man's bed 
Watch' d, noting down each prayer he made, 
Were your unerring roll display'd, 

His pride of health to' abase ; 
Or, when soft showers in season fall 
Answering a famish'd nation's call, 
Should unseen fingers on the wall 

Our vows forgotten trace ; 

How should we gaze in trance of fear ! 
Yet shines the light as thrilling clear 
From heaven upon that scroll severe, 
" Ten cleans'd and one remain !" 



252 Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

Nor surer would the blessing prove 
Of humbled hearts, that own thy love, 
Should choral welcome from above 
Visit our senses plain : 

Than by Thy placid voice and brow, 
With healing first, with comfort now, 
Turn'd upon him, who hastes to bow 

Before Thee, heart and knee ; 
" Oh ! thou, who only would'stbe blest, 
" On thee alone my blessing rest ! 
" Rise, go thy way in peace, possess'd 

" For evermore of me." 






JFifttmth Suntrag after STrfuftg- 

THE FLOWERS OF THE FIELD. 

I 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. Si. Matt. vi. 28. [Gosjiel 
for the day.] 



[Keep, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy per- 
petual mercy : and because the frailty of man without thee can- 
not but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and 
lead us to all things profitable to our salvation, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

SWEET nurslings of the vernal skies, 
Bath'd in soft airs, and fed with dew, 

What more than magic in you lies, 
To fill the heart's fond view ? 

In childhood's sports, companions gay,* 

In sorrow, on Life's downward way, 

* [ " Look at a little child on the meadow, no matter though it has been 
born in the very heart of a city, and seen nothing but brick walls, and 
crowds, and rolling carriages, and pavements, and dust ; let it once get its 
feet upon the sward, and it will toss away the most costly playthings, and 
never gather enough of the butter-cups, and daisies, and other wild flowers 
which prank the sod. And if it shall start a little bird, which bounces on- 



254 Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

How soothing ! in our last decay 
Memorials prompt and true. 

Relics ye are of Eden's bowers, 

As pure, as fragrant, and as fair, 
As when ye crown'd the sunshine hours 

Of happy wanderers there. 
Fall'n all beside — the world of life, 
How is it stain' d with fear and strife ! 
In Reason's world what storms are rife, 

What passions range and glare ! 

But cheerful and unchang'd the while 
Your first and perfect form ye show, 

The same that won Eve's matron smile 
In the world's opening glow. 

The stars of Heaven a course are taught 

Too high above our human thought ;- — 

Ye may be found if ye are sought, 
And as we gaze, we know. 

Ye dwell beside our paths and homes, 
Our paths of sin, our homes of sorrow, 

ward with easy wing, as if it were leaping from portion to portion of the 
sightless air, how it will stretch its little hands, and shout, and hurry on to 
catch the living treasure, which, in its young, but perfectly natural estima- 
tion, is of more value than the wealth of the world. And if the bird perches 
on the hedge or the tree, and sings its sweet song of security, the little fin- 
ger will at once be held up by the little ear, and the other hand will be ex- 
tended with the palm backwards, as if a sign were given by nature herself 
for the world to listen and admire." Mudie's Observation of Nature, p. 35. ] 



Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 255 

And guilty man, where'er he roams, 

Your innocent mirth may borrow. 
The birds of air before us fleet, 
They cannot brook our shame to meet — 
But we may taste your solace sweet 

And come again to-morrow. 

Ye fearless in your nests abide — 
Nor may we scorn, too proudly wise, 

Your silent lessons, undescried 
By all but lowly eyes : 

For ye could draw th' admiring gaze 

Of Him who worlds and hearts surveys : 

Your order wild, your fragrant maze, 
He taught us how to prize. 

Ye felt your Maker's smile that hour, 

As when He paus'd and own'd you good ; 

His blessing on earth's primal bower, 
Ye felt it all renew'd. 

What care ye now, if winter's storm 

Sweep ruthless o'er each silken form? 

Christ's blessing at your heart is warm, 
Ye fear no vexing mood. 

Alas ! of thousand bosoms kind, 

That daily court you and caress, 
How few the happy secret find 

Of your calm loveliness ! 



256 Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

" Live for to-day! to-morrow's light 
" To-morrow's cares shall bring to sight, 
" Go sleep like closing flowers at night, 
" And Heaven thy morn will bless." 



Ssxytzzxitfi ^tttrtrag uittv STrtnitg. 



HOPE IS BETTER THAN EASE. 



I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 
Ephesians iii. 13. [Epistle for the day.] 



[O Lord, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and 
defend thy Church; and because it cannot continue in safety 
without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and good- 
ness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

WISH not, dear friends, my pain away-— 
Wish me a wise and thankful heart, 

With God, in all my griefs, to stay, 
Nor from His lov'd correction start. 

The dearest offering He can crave 

His portion in our souls to prove, 
What is it to the gift He gave, 

The only Son of His dear love ? 



Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 257 

But we, like vex'd unquiet sprights, 
Will still be hovering o'er the tomb, 

Where buried lie our vain delights, 
Nor sweetly take a sinner's doom. 

In Life's long sickness evermore 

Our thoughts are tossing to and fro : ■ 

We change our posture o'er and o'er, 
But cannot rest, nor cheat our woe. 

Were it not better to lie still, 

Let Him strike home, and bless the rod ; 
Never so safe as when our will 

Yields undiscern'd by all but God?* 

Thy precious things, whate'er they be 
That haunt and vex thee, heart and brain, 



* [ " Content can never dwell but in a meek and quiet soul. And this 
may appear, if we consider what our Saviour says in St. Matthew's gospel : 
for there he says, ' Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy : 
blessed be the pure in heart, for they shall see God : blessed be the poor in 
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God : and blessed are the meek, for they 
shall possess the earth.' Not that the meek shall not also obtain mercy, and 
see God, and be comforted, and at last come to the kingdom of heaven ; but, 
in the mean time, he, and he only, possesses the earth as he goes towards 
that kingdom of heaven, by being humble, and cheerful, and content with 
what his good God has allotted him. He has no turbulent, repining, vexa- 
tious thoughts, that he deserves better ; nor is vexed when he sees others 
possessed of more honour or more riches than his wise God has allotted for 
his share ; but he possesses what he has with a meek and contented quiet- 
ness, such a quietness as makes his very dreams pleasing both to God and 
himself." Isaac Walton's Complete Angler. ] 

V 



258 Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

Look to the Cross, and thou shalt see 
How thou may'st turn them all to gain. 

Lovest thou praise? the Cross is shame: 
Or ease ! the Cross is bitter grief: 

More pangs than tongue or heart can frame 
Were suffer' d there without relief. 

We of that altar would partake, 
But cannot quit the cost — no throne 

Is ours, to leave for Thy dear sake — 
We can not do as Thou hast done. 

We can not part with Heaven for Thee-*- 
Yet guide us in thy track of love : 

Let us gaze on where light should be, 
Though not a beam the clouds remove. 

So wanderers ever fond and true 

Look homeward through the evening sky, 

Without a streak of Heaven's soft blue 
To aid Affection's dreaming eye. 

The wanderer seeks his native bower, 
And we will look and long for Thee, 

And thank Thee for each trying hour, 
Wishing, not struggling, to be free. 



Aefeentetuth ^tuxtiag after &vhiit$. 



ezekiel's vision in the temple. 



Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and 
putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the 
Prophet, I the Lord will answer him according to the multitude of his idols. 
Ezekiel xiv. 4. [First Morning Lesson, Church of England.'] 



[Lord, we pray thee, that thy grace may always prevent and 
follow us; and make us continually to be given to all good works, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

STATELY thy walls, and holy are the prayers, 
Which day and night before thine altars rise ; 

Not statelier, towering o'er her marble stairs, 
Flash'd Sion's gilded dome to summer skies, 

Not holier, while around him angels bow'd, 

From Aaron's censer steam'd the spicy cloud, 

Before the mercy-seat. O Mother dear, 
Wilt thou forgive thy son one boding sigh ? 

Forgive, if round thy towers he walk in fear, 
And tell thy jewels o'er with jealous eye ? 



260 Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, 

Mindful of that sad vision, which in thought* 
From Chebar's plains the captive prophet brought 

To see lost Sion's shame. 'Twas morning prime, 
And like a Queen new seated on her throne, 

God's crowned mountain, as in happier time, 
Seem'd to rejoice in sunshine all her own; 

So bright, while all in shade around her lay, 

Her northern pinnacles had caught th' emerging ray 

The dazzling lines of her majestic roof 

Cross'd with as free a span the vault of Heaven, 

As when twelve tribes knelt silently aloof, 
Ere God his answer to their king had given,! 

Ere yet upon the new-built altar fell 

The glory of the Lord, the Lord of Israel. 

All seems the same : but enter in and see 

What idol shapes are on the wall pourtray'd:i 

And watch their shameless and unholy glee, 
Who worship there in Aaron's robes array'd : 

Hear Judah's maids the dirge to Thammuz pour,§ 

And mark, her chiefs yon orient sun adore. || 

Yet turn thee, Son of man — for worse than these 
Thou must behold : thy loathing were but lost 



* Ezekiel viii. 3. f * Kings viii, 5. % Ezekiel viii. 10. 

§ Ezekiel viii. 14. || Ezekiel viii. 16. 



Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 261 

On dead men's crimes, and Jews' idolatries — 

Come, learn to tell aright thine own sins' cost, — 
And sure their sin as far from equals thine, 
As earthly hopes abus'd are less than hopes divine. 

What if within His world, His Church, our Lord 
Have enter'd thee, as in some temple gate, 

Where, looking round, each glance might thee afford 
Some glorious earnest of thine high estate, 

And thou, false heart and frail, hast turn'd from all 

To worship pleasure's shadow on the wall ? 

If, when the Lord of Glory was in sight, 
Thou turn thy back upon that fountain clear, 

To bow before the " little drop of light," 

Which dim-eyed men call praise and glory here ; 

What dost thou, but adore the sun, and scorn 

Him at whose only word both sun and stars were born ? 

If, while around thee gales from Eden breathe, 
Thou hide thine eyes, to make thy peevish moan 

Over some broken reed of earth beneath, 
Some darling of blind fancy dead and gone, 

As wisely might'st thou in Jehovah's fane 

Offer thy love and tears to Thammuz slain. 

Turn thee from these, or dare not to inquire 
Of Him whose name is Jealous, lest in wrath 

He hear and answer thine unblest desire : 

Far better we should cross his lightning's path 

v2 



262 Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 

Than be according to our idols heard, 

And God should take us at our own vain word. 

Thou who hast deign' d the Christian's heart to call 
Thy Church and Shrine ; whene'er our rebel will 

Would in that chosen home of thine instal 
Belial or Mammon, grant us not the ill 

We blindly ask ; in very love refuse 

Whate'er thou know'st our weakness would abuse. 

Or rather help us, Lord, to choose the good, 
To pray for nought, to seek to none, but Thee, 

Nor by " our daily bread" mean common food, 
Nor say, " From this world's evil set us free;" 

Teach us to love, with Christ, our sole true bliss, 

Else, though in Christ's own words, we surely pray 
amiss. 






" i 



aSfQftteeutfi Sttnirag after Evinitn. 

THE CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS. 

I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead 
with you face to face : like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness' 
of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. Ezekiei 
xx. 35, 36. {First Morning Lesson, Church of England.] 



[Lord, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand 
the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil ; and with 
pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only God, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.~\ 



IT is so — ope thine eyes, and see — 
What view'st thou all around ? 

A desert, where iniquity 

And knowledge both abound. 

In the waste howling wilderness 

The Church is wandering still,* 

Because we would not onward press 
When close to Sion's hill. 

* Revelations xii. 14. 



264 Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, 

Back to the world we faithless turn'd, 

And far along the wild, 
With labour lost and sorrow earn'd, 

Our steps have been beguil'd. 

Yet full before us, all the while, 
The shadowing pillar stays, 

The living waters brightly smile, 
Th' eternal turrets blaze. 

Yet Heaven is raining angels' bread 

To be our daily food, 
And fresh, as when it first was shed, 

Springs forth the Saviour's blood. 

From every region, race, and speech, 
Believing myriads throng, 

Till, far as sin and sorrow reach, 
Thy grace is spread along ; 

Till sweetest nature, brightest art, 
Their votive incense bring, 

And every voice and every heart 
Own Thee their God and King. 

All own ; but few, alas ! will love ; 

Too like the recreant band 
That with thy patient Spirit strove 

Upon the Red-sea strand. 



Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 265 

O Father of long-suffering grace, 

Thou who hast sworn to stay 
Pleading with sinners face to face 

Through all their devious way ; 

How shall we speak to Thee, O Lord, 

Or how in silence lie ? 
Look on us, and we are abhorr'd, 

Turn from us, and we die. 

Thy guardian fire, thy guiding cloud, 

Still let them gild our wall, 
Nor be our foes and thine allow'd 

To see us faint and fall. 

Too oft, within this camp of thine, 

Rebellious murmurs rise ; 
Sin cannot bear to see Thee shine 

So awful to her eyes. 

Fain would our lawless hearts escape, 

And with the heathen be, 
To worship every monstrous shape 

In fancied darkness free.* 

Vain thought, that shall not be at all ! 
Refuse we or obey, 

* Ezekiel xx. 32. That which cometh into your miud shall not be at all , 
that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to 
serve wood and stone, 



266 Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

Our ears have heard the Almighty's call, 
We cannot be as they. 

We cannot hope the heathen's doom, 
To whom God's Son is given, 

Whose eyes have seen beyond the tomb, 
Who have the key of Heaven. 

Weak tremblers on the edge of woe, 
Yet shrinking from true bliss, 

Our rest must be " no rest below," 
And let our prayer be this : 

" Lord, wave again thy chastening rod, 

" Till every idol throne 
" Crumble to dust, and Thou, O God, 

" Reign in our hearts alone. 

44 Bring all our wandering fancies home, 
s£ For Thou hast every spell, 

" And 'mid the heathen where they roam, 
" Thou knowest, Lord, too well. 

" Thou know'st our service sad and hard, 
"Thou know'st us fond and frail; — 

" Win us to be belov'd and spar'd 
" When all the world shall fail. 

" So when at last our weary days 
" Are well-nigh wasted here, 



Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 267 

" And we can trace thy wondrous ways 
" In distance calm and clear, 

" When in thy love and Israel's sin 

" We read our story true, 
" We may not, all too late, begin 

" To wish our hopes were new : 

" Long lov'd, long tried, long spar'd as they, 

" Unlike in this alone, 
" That, by thy grace, our hearts shall stay 

" For evermore thine own." 



Mnttttnth Suttirag after STrtntt^ 

SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO. 

Tlien Nebuchadnezzar the King was astonished, and rose up in haste, and 
spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into 
the midst of the fire ? They answered and said unto the King, True, O 
King. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the 
midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like 
the Son of God. Daniel iii. 24, 25. [First Morning Lesson, Chtirch of Eng- 
land.] 

[O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please 
thee ; mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things 
direct and rule our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.'] 

WHEN Persecution's torrent blaze 
Wraps the unshrinking Martyr's head ; 

When fade all earthly flowers and bays, 
When summer friends are gone and fled, 

Is he alone in that dark hour 

Who owns the Lord of love and power ? 

Or waves there not around his brow 
A wand no human arm may wield, 



Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. 269 

Fraught with a spell no angels know, 

His steps to guide, his soul to shield ? 
Thou, Saviour, art his charmed bower, 
His magic ring, his rock, his tower. 

And when the wicked ones behold 
Thy favourites walking in thy light, 

Just as, in fancied triumph bold, 

They deem'd them lost in deadly night, 

Amaz'd they cry, " What spell is this, 

" Which turns their sufferings all to bliss? 

" How are they free whom we had bound, 
" Upright, whom in the gulf we cast? 

" What wondrous helper have they found 
" To screen them from the scorching blast? 

" Three were they — who hath made them four? 

" And sure a form divine he wore, 

" Even like the Son of God." So cried 
The Tyrant, when in one fierce flame 

The martyrs liv'd, the murderers died : 
Yet knew he not what angel came 

To make the rushing fire-flood seem 

Like summer breeze by woodland stream.* 



* Song of the Three Children, ver. 27. " And made the midst of the 
furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, [so that the fire touched 
them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them." ] 

W 



270 Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

He knew not, but there are who know : 
The Matron, who alone hath stood, 

When not a prop seem'd left below, 
The first lorn hour of widowhood, 

Yet cheer'd and cheering all, the while, 

With sad but unaffected smile ; — 

The Father, who his vigil keeps 

By the sad couch whence hope hath flown, 
Watching the eye where reason sleeps, 

Yet in his heart can mercy own, 
Still sweetly yielding to the rod, 
Still loving man, still thanking God ; — 

The Christian Pastor, bow'd to earth 
With thankless toil, and vile esteem'd, 

Still travailing in second birth 

Of souls that will not be redeem'd, 

Yet steadfast set to do his part, 

And fearing most his own vain heart; — 

These know: on these look long and well, 
Cleansing thy sight by prayer and faith, 

And thou shalt know what secret spell 
Preserves them in their living death : 

Through sevenfold flames thine eye shall see 

The Saviour walking with his faithful Three. 



STfoeuttetft ^ttutrag after &vinit%. 

MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 

Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations 
of the earth. Micah vi. 2. [First Evening Lesson, Church of England.] 



[O Almighty and most merciful God, of thy bountiful good- 
ness keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us ; 
that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully ac- 
complish those things which thou commandest, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

WHERE is thy favour'd haunt, eternal Voice, 

The region of thy choice, 
Where, uiidisturb'd by sin and earth, the soul 

Owns thine entire control ? — 
'Tis on the mountain's summit dark and high, 

When storms are hurrying by : 
'Tis 'mid the strong foundations of the earth, 

Where torrents have their birth. 

No sounds of worldly toil ascending there, 
Mar the full burst of prayer ; 



272 Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. 

Lone Nature feels that she may freely breathe, 

And round us and beneath 
Are heard her sacred tones : the fitful sweep 

Of winds across the steep, 
Through wither'd bents — romantic note and clear, 

Meet for a hermit's ear, — 

The wheeling kite's wild solitary cry, 

And, scarcely heard so high, 
The dashing waters when the air is still, 

From many a torrent rill 
That winds unseen beneath the shaggy fell, 

Track'd by the blue mist well : 
Such sounds as make deep silence in the heart, 

For Thought to do her part. 

'Tis then we hear the voice of God within, 

Pleading with care and sin : 
" Child of my love ! how have I wearied thee ? 

" Why wilt thou err from me? 
" Have I not brought thee from the house of slaves, 

" Parted the drowning waves, 
" And set my saints before thee in the way, 

" Lest thou should'st faint or stray ? 

" What ? was the promise made to thee alone ? 

" Art thou th' excepted one ? 
" An heir of glory without grief or pain ? 

" vision false and vain ! 



Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. 273 

" There lies thy cross ; beneath it meekly bow ; 

" It fits thy stature now : 
" Who scornful pass it with averted eye, 

" 'Twill crush them by and by. 

"Raise thy repining eyes, and take true measure 

" Of thine eternal treasure ; 
" The Father of thy Lord can grudge thee nought, 

" The world for thee was bought, 
" And as this landscape broad — earth, sea and sky, — 

" All centres in thine eye, 
" So all God does, if rightly understood, 

" Shall work thy final good." 



w 2 






Etoznt&Uvnt Suutrag after STrtnftg- 



THE RED BREAST IN SEPTEMBER. 



The vision is yet for an appointed time ; but at the end it shall speak and 
not lie : though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not 
tarry. Habakkuk ii. 3. [First Morning Lesson, Church of England.] 



[Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people, 
pardon and peace; that they may be cleansed from all their sins, 
and serve thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
AmenJ\ 

THE morning mist is clear'd away, 

Yet still the face of heaven is gray, 
Nor yet th' autumnal breeze has stirr'd the grove, 

Faded yet full, a paler green 

Skirts soberly the tranquil scene, 
The red-breast warbles round this leafy cove. 

Sweet messenger of " calm decay," 
Saluting sorrow as you may, 
As one still bent to find or make the best, 



Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. 275 

In thee, and in this quiet mead 
The lesson of sweet peace I read, 
Rather in all to be resign'd than blest. 

'Tis a low chant, according well 

With the soft solitary knell, 
As homeward from some grave belov'd we turn, 

Or by some holy death-bed dear, 

Most welcome to the chasten'd ear 
Of her whom heaven is teaching how to mourn. 

O cheerful tender strain ! the heart 

That duly bears with you its part, 
Singing so thankful to the dreary blast, 

Though gone and spent its joyous prime, 

And on the world's autumnal time, 
'Mid wither'd hues and sere, its lot be cast : 

That is the heart for thoughtful seer, 

Watching, in trance nor dark nor clear,* 
Th' appalling Future as it nearer draws : 

His spirit calm'd the storm to meet, 

Feeling the rock beneath his feet, 
And tracing through the cloud th' eternal Cause. 

That is the heart for watchman true 
Waiting to see what God will do, 



* Zechariah xiv. 6. It shall come to pass in that day, that the night shall 
not be clear nor dark. 



276 Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. 

As o'er the Church the gathering twilight falls : 

No more he strains his wistful eye, 

If chance the golden hours be nigh, 
By youthful Hope seen beaming round her walls. 

Forc'd from his shadowy paradise, 

His thoughts to Heaven the steadier rise : 
There seek his answer when the world reproves : 

Contented in his darkling round, 

If only he be faithful found, 
When from the east th' eternal morning moves. 

Note. The expression, " calm decay," is borrowed from a friend: by 
whose kind permission the following stanzas are here inserted. 

STo tjfje 3&et» 3Sreast. 

Unheard in summer's flaring ray, 

Pour forth thy notes, sweet singer, 
Wooing the stillness of the autumn day : 

Bid it a moment linger, 
Nor fly 
Too soon from winter's scowling eye. 

The blackbird's song at eventide, 

And hers, who gay ascends,* 
Filling the heavens far and wide, 

Are sweet. But none so blends, 
As thine, 
With calm decay, and peace divine. 

* [ The sky-lark. ] 



artoeutg^eomtr Sxtntrag after &rtnftg. 



THE RULE OF CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS. 



Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him ? St. 
Matthew xviii. 21. [Qospelfortheday.] 



[Lord, we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in 
continual godliness ; that, through thy protection, it may be free 
from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good 
works, to the glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.'] 

WHAT liberty so glad and gay, 

As where the mountain boy, 
Reckless of regions far away, 

A prisoner lives in joy ? 

The dreary sounds of crowded earth, 

The cries of camp or town, 
Never untun'd his lonely mirth, 

Nor drew his visions down. 

The snow-clad peaks of rosy light 
That meet his morning view, 



278 Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity. 

The thwarting cliffs that bound his sight, 
They bound his fancy too. 

Two ways alone his roving eye 

For aye may onward go, 
Or in the azure deep on high, 

Or darksome mere below. 

O blest restraint ! more blessed range ! 

Too soon the happy child 
His nook of homely thought will change 

For life's seducing wild : 

Too soon his alter'd day dreams show 
This earth a boundless space, 

With sun-bright pleasures to and fro 
Sporting in joyous race : 

While of his narrowing heart each year, 
Heaven less and less will fill, 

Less keenly, through his grosser ear, 
The tones of mercy thrill. 

It must be so : else wherefore falls 
The Saviour's voice unheard, 

While from His pardoning Cross He calls, 
"0 spare as I have spar'd?" 

By our own niggard rule we try 
The hope to suppliants given ; 



Twenty-second Sunday fter Trinity. 279 

We mete out love, as if our eye 
Saw to the end of heaven. 

Yes, ransom'd sinner ! wouldst thou know 

How often to forgive, 
How dearly to embrace thy foe, 

Look where thou hop'st to live : 

When thou hast told those isles of light, 

And fancied all beyond, 
Whatever owns, in depth or height, 

Creation's wondrous bond ; 

Then in their solemn pageant learn 

Sweet mercy's praise to see : 
Their Lord resigned them all, to earn 

The bliss of pardoning thee. 



<Stoewtg==tftfrtt ^tttitmg after Exinity. 



THE FOREST LEAVES IN AUTUMN. 

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His 
glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue 
all things unto himself. Philippians iii. 21. [Epistle for the day.] 



[O God, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all 
godliness ; be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers 
of thy Church ; and grant that those things which we ask faith- 
fully, we may obtain effectually, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.'] 

RED o'er the forest peers the setting sun, 

The line of yellow light dies fast away 
That crown'd the eastern copse ; and chill and dun 

Falls on the moor the brief November day. 

Now the tir'd hunter winds a parting note, 
And Echo bids good-night from every glade ; 

Yet wait awhile, and see the calm leaves float 
Each to his rest beneath their parent shade. 

How like decaying life they seem to glide ! 
And yet no second spring have they in store, 



Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity, 281 

But where they fall forgotten to abide, 
Is all their portion, and they ask no more. 

Soon o'er their heads blithe April airs shall sing, 
A thousand wild-flowers round them shall unfold, 

The green buds glisten in the dews of Spring, 
And all be vernal rapture as of old. 

Unconscious they in waste oblivion lie, 

In all the world of busy life around 
No thought of them ; in all the bounteous sky 

No drop, for them, of kindly influence found. 

Man's portion is to die and rise again — 

Yet he complains, while these unmurmuring part 

With their sweet lives, as pure from sin and stain, 
As his when Eden held his virgin heart. 

And haply, half unblam'd his murmuring voice 
Might sound in heaven, were all his second life 

Only the first renew'd — the heathen's choice, 
A round of listless joy and weary strife. 

For dreary were this earth, if earth were all, 

Though brighten' d oft by dear affection's kiss ; — 

Who for the spangles wears the funeral pall ? 
But catch a gleam beyond it, and 'tis bliss. 

Heavy and dull this frame of limbs and heart, 
Whether slow creeping on cold earth, or borne 
x 



282 Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. 

On lofty steed, or loftier prow, we dart 

O'er wave or field : yet breezes laugh to scorn 

Our puny speed, and birds, and clouds in heaven, 
And fish, like living shafts that pierce the main, 

And stars that shoot through freezing air at even — 
Who but would follow, might he break his chain ? 

And thou shalt break it soon ; the grovelling worm 
Shall find his wings, and soar as fast and free 

As his transfigur'd Lord with lightning form 
And snowy vest — such grace He won for thee, 

When from the grave he sprung at dawn of morn, 
And led through boundless air thy conquering road, 

Leaving a glorious track, where saints new-born 
Might fearless follow to their blest abode. 

But first, by many a stern and fiery blast 

The world's rude furnace must thy blood refine, 

And many a gale of keenest woe be pass'd, 
Till every pulse beat true to airs divine, 

Till every limb obey the mounting soul, 

The mounting soul, the call by Jesus given. 

He who the stormy heart can so control 
The laggard body soon will waft to heaven. 



<5:toettts=iP0ttrtH Suntrag after arrfuftg. 

IMPERFECTION OF HUMAN SYMPATHY. 

The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermed- 
dle with his joy. Proverbs xiv. 10. [First Evening Lesson, Church of Eng- 
land.] 



[O Lord, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their of- 
fences ; that, through thy bountiful goodness, we may all be deli- 
vered from the bands of those sins which by our frailty we have 
committed : grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, 
our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.] 

WHY should we faint and fear to live alone, 
Since all alone, so Heaven has will'd, we die,* 

Nor even the tenderest heart, and next our own, 
Knows half the reasons why we smile and sigh ? 



* Je mourrai seul. Pascal. [ The entire passage is as follows : " Pour 
moi, je n'ai pu m'y arreter ni me reposer dans la societe de ces personnes 
semblables a moi, miserables comme moi. Je vois qu'ils ne m'aideroient pas 
a mourir, je mourrai seul ; il faut done faire comme si j'etais seul; or, si 
j'etois seul je ne batirois point des maisons, jene m'embarrasserois point 
dans les occupations tumultuaires, je ne chercherois P estime de personne ; 
mais je tacherois seulement de decouvrir laverite." Pevsees c. viii. seel. ] 



284 Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity. 

Each in his hidden sphere of joy or woe 
Our hermit spirits dwell, and range apart, 

Our eyes see all around in gloom or glow — 

Hues of their own, fresh borrow'd from the heart. 

And well it is for us our God should feel 
Alone our secret throbbings : so our prayer 

May readier spring to Heaven, nor spend its zeal 
On cloud-born idols of this lower air. 

For if one heart in perfect sympathy 

Beat with another, answering love for love, 

Weak mortals, all entranc'd, on earth would lie, 
Nor listen for those purer strains above. 

Or what if Heaven for once its searching light 
Lent to some partial eye, disclosing all 

The rude bad thoughts, that in our bosom's night 
Wander at large, nor heed Love's gentle thrall? 

Who would not shun the dreary uncouth place ? 

As if, fond leaning where her infant slept, 
A mother's arm a serpent should embrace : 

So might we friendless live, and die unwept. 

Then keep the softening veil in mercy drawn, 
Thou who canst love us, tho' Thou read us true; 

As on the bosom of th' aerial lawn 

Melts in dim haze each coarse ungentle hue. 



Twenty -fourth Sunday after Trinity. 285 

So too may soothing Hope thy leave enjoy 
Sweet visions of long sever'd hearts to frame : 

Though absence may impair, or cares annoy, 
Some constant mind may draw us still the same. 

We in dark dreams are tossing to and fro, 
Pine with regret, or sicken with despair, 

The while she bathes us in her own chaste glow, 
And with our memory wings her own fond prayer. 

O bliss of child-like innocence, and love 
Tried to old age ! creative power to win, 

And raise new worlds, where happy fancies rove, 
Forgetting quite this grosser world of sin. 

Bright are their dreams, because their thoughts are clear, 
Their memory cheering : but the earth-stained spright, 

Whose wakeful musings are of guilt and fear, 
Must hover nearer earth, and less in light. 

Farewell, for her, th' ideal scenes so fair — 

Yet not farewell her hope, since Thou hast deign'd. 

Creator of all hearts ! to own and share 

The woe of what Thou mad'st, and we have stain'd. 

Thou know'st our bitterness — our joys are thine* — 
No stranger Thou to all our wanderings wild : 

Nor could we bear to think, how every line 
Of us, thy darken' d likeness and defiTd, 

* Psalm xxxi. 7. Thou hast known my soul in adversities. 

x 2 



286 Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity. 

Stands in full sunshine of thy piercing eye, 
But that thou call'st us Brethren : sweet repose 

Is in that word — the Lord who dwells on high 
Knows all, yet loves us better than He knows. 



Sfoentg-ffftJi cSuufcag after Ertnttg* 



THE TWO RAINBOWS. 



The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteous- 
ness. Proverbs xvi. 31. [First Evening Lesson, Church of England.] 



[Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful 
people ; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good 
works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

THE bright hair'd morn is glowing 

O'er emerald meadows gay, 
With many a clear gem strowing 

The early shepherd's way, 
Ye gentle elves, by Fancy seen 

Stealing away with night 
To slumber in your leafy screen, 

Tread more than airy light. 



Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. 287 

And see what joyous greeting 

The sun through heaven has shed, 
Though fast yon shower be fleeting, 

His beams have faster sped. 
For lo ! above the western haze 

High towers the rainbow arch 
In solid span of purest rays : 

How stately is its march ! 

Pride of the dewy morning! 

The swain's experienc'd eye 
From thee takes timely warning, 

Nor trusts the gorgeous sky. 
For well he knows, such dawnings gay 

Bring noons of storm and shower, 
And travellers linger on the way 

Beside the sheltering bower. 

Even so, in hope and trembling 

Should watchful shepherd view 
His little lambs assembling, 

With glance both kind and true ; 
'Tis not the eye of keenest blaze, 

Nor the quick-swelling breast 
That soonest thrills at touch of praise — 

These do not please him best. 

But voices low and gentle, 
And timid glances shy, 



288 Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity, 

That seem for aid parental 

To sue all wistfully, 
Still pressing, longing to be right, 

Yet fearing to be wrong — 
In these the Pastor dares delight, 

A lamb-like, Christ-like throng. 

These in Life's distant even 

Shall shine serenely bright, 
As in th' autumnal heaven 

Mild rainbow tints at night, 
When the last shower is stealing down, 

And ere they sink to rest, 
The sun-beams weave a parting crown 

For some sweet woodland nest. 

The promise of the morrow 

Is glorious on that eve, 
Dear as the holy sorrow 

When good men cease to live. 
When brightening ere it die away 

Mounts up their altar flame, 
Still tending with intenser ray 

To Heaven whence first it came. 



Say not it dies, that glory, 

'Tis caught unquench'd on high, 
Those saint-like brows so hoary 

Shall wear it in the sky. 



Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. 289 

No smile is like the smile of death, 

When all good musings past 
Rise wafted with the parting breath, 

The sweetest thought the last. 



Stttrtrag uejrt btiovz ^trfcent 



SELF-EXAMINATION BEFORE ADVENT. 



Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. St. John vi. 12. 
[ Oo^pel for the day.} 



[Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful 
people ; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good 
works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. £men.~\ 

WILL God indeed with fragments bear, 
Snatch'd late from the decaying year ? 
Or can the Saviour's blood endear 
The dregs of a polluted life ? 
When down th' o'erwhelming current tost, 
Just ere he sink for ever lost, 
The sailor's untried arms are cross'd 
In agonizing prayer, will Ocean cease her strife I 



290 Sunday next before Advent, 

Sighs that exhaust but not relieve, 
Heart-rending sighs, O spare to heave 
A bosom freshly taught to grieve 

For lavish'd hours and love mispent ! 
Now through her round of holy thought 
The Church our annual steps has brought, 
But we no holy fire have caught — 
Back on the gaudy world our wilful eyes were bent. 

Too soon th' ennobling carols, pour'd 
To hymn the birth-night of the Lord,* 
Which duteous memory should have stor'd 

For thankful echoing all the year — 
Too soon those airs have pass'd away ; 
Nor long within the heart would stay 
The silence of Christ's dying day,t 
Profan'd by worldly mirth, or scar'd by worldly fear. 

Some strain of hope and victory 
On Easter wings might lift us high ; 
A little while we sought the sky : 

And when the Spirit's beacon firesj 
On every hill began to blaze, 
Lightening the world with glad amaze, 
Who but must kindle while they gaze ? 
But faster than she soars, our earth-bound Fancy tires. 



* [ Christmas. ] f [ Good Friday. ] % [ Whitsunday. 



Sunday next before Advent. 291 

Nor yet for these, nor all the rites, 
By which our Mother's voice invites 
Our God to bless our home delights, 

And sweeten every secret tear :— < 
The funeral dirge, the marriage vow, 
The hallow'd font where parents bow, 
And now elate and trembling now 
To the Redeemer's feet their new-found treasures bear : — 

Not for the Pastor's gracious arm 
Stretch'd out to bless — a Christian charm 
To dull the shafts of worldly harm : — 
Nor, sweetest, holiest, best of all, 
For the dear feast of Jesus dying, 
Upon that altar ever lying, 
Where souls with sacred hunger sighing 
Are call'd to sit and eat, while angels prostrate fall : — 

No, not for each and all of these, 
Have our frail spirits found their ease. 
The gale that stirs th' autumnal trees 

Seems tun'd as truly to our hearts 
As when, twelve weary months ago, 
'Twas moaning bleak, so high and low, 
You would have thought Remorse and Woe 
Had taught the innocent air their sadly thrilling parts. 

Is it, Christ's light is too divine, 
We dare not hope like Him to shine ? 



292 Sunday next before Advent. 

But see, around His dazzling shrine 

Earth's gems the fire of Heaven have caught ; 
Martyrs and saints — each glorious day- 
Dawning in order on our way — 
Remind us, how our darksome clay 
May keep th' ethereal warmth our new Creator brought. 

These we have scorn'd, false and frail! 
And now once more th' appalling tale, 
How love divine may woo and fail, 

Of our lost year in heaven is told — 
What if as far our life were past, 
Our weeks all number' d to the last, 
With time and hope behind us cast, 
And all our work to do with palsied hands and cold? 

O watch and pray ere Advent dawn ! 
For thinner than the subtlest lawn 
'Twixt thee and death the veil is drawn. 

But Love too late can never glow : 
The scatter'd fragments Love can glean, 
Refine the dregs, and yield us clean 
To regions where one thought serene 
Breathes sweeter than whole years of sacrifice below. 



St ®vtttvtW8 Ba&* 

[November 30.] 



He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have 
found the Messiasj and he brought him unto Jesus. St. John i. 41, 42. 



[Almighty God, who didst give such grace unto thy holy 
Apostle Saint Andrew, that he readily obeyed the calling of thy 
Son Jesus Christ, and followed him without delay ; grant unto us 
all, that we, being called by thy holy word, may forthwith give 
up ourselves obediently to fulfil thy holy commandments, through 
the same, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

WHEN brothers part for manhood's race, 
What gift may most endearing prove 

* [ St. Andrew was a native of Bethsaida, in Galilee. He was the son 
of a fisherman named Jonas, and the brother of Simon, surnamed Peter. He 
had been the disciple of John the Baptist, and was one of the two to whom 
John pointed out the Saviour as " the Lamb of God, who taketh away the 
sins of the world." It was his happiness to introduce his more illustrious 
brother, the apostle Peter, to the knowledge of Jesus — hence sometimes 
called, in reference to Peter's emblematic name, " the rock before the rock." 
He was ordained an apostle by our Lord. It is said that Scythia was chiefly 
the field of his labours ; and that the instrument of his martyrdom was a 
cross of a peculiar form (X) 5 known as St. Andrew's Cross. The Scotch, 

Y 



294 St. Andrew's Bay. 

To keep fond memory in her place, 
And certify a brother's love ? 

'Tis true, bright hours together told, 
And blissful dreams in secret shar'd, 

Serene or solemn, gay or bold, 
Shall last in fancy unimpair'd. 

Even round the death-bed of the good 
Such dear remembrances will hover, 

And haunt us with no vexing mood 
When all the cares of earth are over. 

But yet our craving spirits feel, 

We shall live on, though Fancy die, 

And seek a surer pledge — a seal 
Of love to last eternally. 

Who art thou, that wouldst grave thy name 
Thus deeply in a brother's heart ?* 



who chose him as their patron Saint, had a tradition that his remains were 
brought to St. Andrews, A.D. 368, and entombed there. The festival of St. 
Andrew determines the beginning of the season of Advent. (See note on 
Advent Sunday.) The honour of thus announcing, as it were, the coming 
of the Lord, may have been assigned to him, says Bishop Sparrow, because 
" it was he who first came to Christ, and followed him before any of the 
other apostles." ] 

* [ It is a beautiful circumstance that the two disciples who first came 
to Jesus were brothers in the flesh, and that the one led the other to him. 
The bond of brotherhood may well be close and holy. But how much more 
so when, as here, nature is consecrated by grace ! ] 



St. Andrew's Bay. 295 

Look on this saint, and learn to frame 
Thy love-charm with true Christian art. 

First seek thy Saviour out, and dwell 

Beneath the shadow of his roof,* 
Till thou have scann'd his features well, 

And known Him for the Christ by proof; 

Such proof as they are sure to find, 

Who spend with him their happier days, 

Clean hands, and a self-ruling mind 
Ever in tune for love and praise. 

Then, potent with the spell of heaven, 
Go, and thine erring brother gain,t 

Entice him home to be forgiven, 
Till he, too, see his Saviour plain. 

Or, if before thee in the race, 

Urge him with thine advancing tread, 

* [ When Andrew and the other disciple to whom John spake, had fol- 
lowed Jesus till they saw where he dwelt, they " abode with him that day." 
The account which John had given of him made them in earnest to know 
him, and they took the proper means, personal acquaintance. They did not 
go, and look, and come away. They " abode with him." Is it not univer- 
sally in his sacrificial character, as the Lamb of God, taking away sin, that 
the Saviour permanently impresses the hearts of men, — draws them and 
keeps them? ] 

| [ " He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We 
have found the Messias ; and he brought him to Jesus." His intercourse 
with him whom John describes as the " Lamb of God," enabled Andrew to 
recognize him as the Messias, the Christ, or Anointed. ] 



296 St. Andrew's Day. 

Till, like twin stars, with even pace, 
Each lucid course be duly sped. 

No fading frail memorial give 

To soothe his soul when thou art gone, 

But wreaths of hope for aye to live, 
And thoughts of good together done. 

That so, before the judgment-seat, 

Though chang'd and glorified each face, 

Not unremember'd ye may meet 
For endless ages to embrace.* 

* [ There is here allusion made to that hope of recognition in a future 
state in which many pious Christians not groundlessly indulge. Bishop 
Mant, in his " Happiness of the Blessed," has fully investigated the subject, 
by the light of Scripture, and shown it to be at least probable. There is an 
able sermon, too, on this interesting subject, by my long-loved friend, the 
Rev. Benjamin Dorr, rector of Trinity Church, Utica. ] 



St Stomas' 2iag** 

[December 21.] 

Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are they 
that have not seen, and yet have believed. St. John xx. 29. [ Gospel for the 
day.] 

[Almighty and ever living God, who, for the greater confirma- 
tion of the faith, didst suffer thy holy Apostle Thomas to be 
doubtful in thy Son's resurrection ; grant us so perfectly, and 
without all doubt, to believe in thy Son Jesus Christ, that our 
faith in thy sight may never be reproved. Hear us, O Lord, 
through the same Jesus Christ ; to whom, with thee and the Holy 
Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and for evermore. Amen.} 

"WE were not by when Jesus came,! 
But round us, far and near, 

* [ Thomas, called also Didymus, the twin, was a fisherman of Galilee. 
He is chiefly memorable for his strange incredulity, and its complete convic- 
tion. He was an apostle of our Lord, and is said by Origen to have laboured 
chiefly in Parthia. A race of Christians have been found near the coast of 
Malabar, known as the "Christians of St. Thomas," and claiming spiritual 
descent from him. See Dr Buchanan's very interesting " Christian Re- 
searches in India." ] 

f St. John xx. 24. Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymu3, was net 
with them when Jesus came. 

y2 



298 St. Thomas' Day. 

We see his trophies, and his name 

In choral echoes hear. 
In a fair ground our lot is cast, 
As in the solemn week that past, 
While some might doubt, but all ador'd,* 
Ere the whole widow'd Church had seen her risen Lord. 

Slowly, as then, His bounteous hand 

The golden chain unwinds, 
Drawing to Heaven with gentlest band 

Wise hearts and loving minds. 
Love sought him first — at dawn of mornt 
From her sad couch she sprang forlorn, 
She sought to weep with Thee alone, 
And saw thine open grave, and knew that Thou wert 

gone. 

Reason and Faith at once set outj: 

To search the Saviour's tomb ; 
Faith faster runs, but waits without, 

As fearing to presume, 



* St. Matt, xxviii. 17. When they saw him, they worshipped him: but 
some doubted. 
f St. Mary Magdalen's visit to the sepulchre. 

[ " Not she with traitorous kiss her Saviour stung, 
Not she denied him with unholy tongue : 
She, while apostles shrunk, could danger brave, 
Last at his cross, and earliest at his grave." 

Woman, a Poem, by Barret. 
% St. Peter and St. John. 



St. Thomas' Day. 299 

Till Reason enter in, and trace 
Christ's relics round the holy place — 
" Here lay His limbs, and here His sacred head, 
" And who was by, to make his new-forsaken bed?" 

Both wonder, one believes — but while 

They muse on all at home, 
No thought can tender love beguile 

From Jesus' grave to roam. 
"Weeping she stays till He appear — 
Her witness first the Church must hear* — 
All joy to souls that can rejoice 
With her at earliest call of His dear gracious voice. 

Joy too to those, who love to talk 

In secret how He died, 
Though with seal'd eyes awhile they walk, 

Nor see Him at their side ; 
Most like the faithful pair are they,t 
Who once to Emmaus took their way, 
Half darkling, till their Master shed 
His glory on their souls, made known in breaking bread. 

Thus, ever brighter and more bright, 
On those he came to save 

* [ The first appearance of the risen Saviour was to her out of whom he 
had cast seven devils, A touching circumstance, full of encouragement, and 
beautifully illustrative of His tender love, who is not willing that any should 
perish, and desires the salvation even of the chief of sinners. ] 

t [ St. Luke xxiv. 13—32. ] 



300 St. Thomas' Day. 

The Lord of new-created light 

Dawn'd gradual from the grave : 
Till pass'd th' inquiring daylight hour, 
And with clos'd door in silent bower* 
The Church in anxious musing sate, 
As one who for redemption still had long to wait. 

Then, gliding through th' unopening door, 

Smooth without step or sound, 
" Peace to your souls," He said — no more — 

They own him, kneeling round. 
Eye, ear, and hand, and loving heart,! 
Body and soul in every part, 
Successive made His witnesses that hour, 
Cease not in all the world to show his i saving power. 

Is there, on earth, a spirit frail, 

Who fears to take their word, 
Scarce daring, through the twilight pale, 

To think he sees the Lord 1 
With eyes too tremblingly awake 
To bear with dimness for His sake ? 
Read and confess the hand divine 
That drew thy likeness here so true in every line. 



* [ St. John xx. 19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day 
of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled 
for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and said unto them, 
Peace be unto you. ] 

f [ He showed unto them his hands and his side. ] 



St. Thomas 1 Day. 301 

For all thy rankling doubts so sore, 

Love thou thy Saviour still, 
Him for thy Lord and God adore,* 

And ever do His will. 
Though vexing thoughts may seem to last, 
Let not thy soul be quite o'ercast ; — 
Soon will He show thee all His wounds, and say, 
" Long have I known thy namet — know thou my face 

" alway." 

* [ The unbelief of Thomas, or, as the Collect expresses it, his " doubt- 
fulness in Christ's resurrection" removed, most naturally carries him to the 
fullest expression of his conviction not only of that fact, but of his full divi- 
nity, " My Lord, and my God 1" — Is not this ardour of conviction very char- 
acteristic in him who before had said, " Let us also go, that we may die 
with him ?" St. John xi. 16. ] 

f In Exodus xxxiii. 17, God says to Moses, "I know thee byname;" 
meaning, "I bear especial favour towards thee." Thus our Saviour speaks 
to St. Thomas by name in the place here referred to. 



[January 25.] 



And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, 
why persecutest thou me ? And he said, Who art thou, Lord ? And the 
Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. Acts ix. 4, 5, [Scripture for 
the Epistle.] 



[O God, who, through the preaching of the blessed Apostle 
Saint Paul, hast caused the light of the gospel to shine through- 
out the world j grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his won- 
derful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankful- 
ness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine 
which he taught, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jlmen.} 

THE mid day sun, with fiercest glare, 
Broods o'er the hazy, twinkling air ; 

* [ Paul, whose name was Saul, was a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia. He 
was instructed in all the learning of his nation by the celebrated Gamaliel. 
In accordance, however, with Jewish usages, he learned the trade of a tent- 
maker. Being a great zealot for the law, he exerted himself in every way to 
oppose Christianity, and destroy its professors. It was on a journey of per- 
secution to Damascus, that he was suddenly arrested by a light from heaven, 
and miraculously converted to the Christian faith by the voice of the Lord 
Jesus himself. At the same time he was called to be an Apostle, and sent 
especially to the Gentiles. After great labours and perils, in which he 



Tlxt Conversion of St. Paul. 303 

Along the level sand 
The palm-tree's shade unwavering lies, 
Just as thy towers, Damascus, rise 

To greet yon wearied band. 

The leader of that martial crew 
Seems bent some mighty deed to do, 

So steadily he speeds, 
With lips firm clos'd and fixed eye, 
Like warrior when the fight is nigh, 

Nor talk nor landscape heeds. 

What sudden blaze is round him pour'd, 
As though all Heaven's refulgent hoard 

In one rich glory shone ? 
One moment — and to earth he falls : 
What voice his inmost heart appals ? — 

Voice heard by him alone. 

For to the rest both words and form 
Seem lost in lightning and in storm, 

While Saul, in wakeful trance, 
Sees deep within that dazzling field 
His persecuted Lord reveal'd 

With keen yet pitying glance : 



\ 



planted many churches, and wrote fourteen epistles, he suffered martyrdom 
at Rome, under Nero, A.D. 68. The festival appointed in his honour com- 
memorates, not, as usual, his death, but his conversion. The argument for 
the truth of Christianity from this event, has been most admirably stated 
by Lord Lyttlelon. ] 



304 The Conversion of St. Paul. 

And hears the meek upbraiding call 
As gently on his spirit fall, 

As if th' Almighty Son 
Were prisoner yet in this dark earth, 
Nor had proclaim'd his royal birth, 

Nor his great power begun. 

" Ah wherefore persecut'st thou me?" 
He heard and saw, and sought to free 

His strain'd eye from the sight: 
But Heaven's high magic bound it there, 
Still gazing, though untaught to bear 

Th' insufferable light. 

" Who art thou, Lord?" he falters forth:- 
So shall Sin ask of heaven and earth 

At the last awful day. 
" When did we see thee suffering nigh,* 
" And pass'd thee with unheeding eye ? 

" Great God of judgment, say!" 

Ah ! little dream our listless eyes 
What glorious presence they despise. 

While, in our noon of life, 
To power or fame we rudely press. — 
Christ is at hand, to scorn or bless, 

Christ suffers in our strife. 

* St. Matthew xxv. 44. 



The Conversion of St. Paul. 305 

And though heaven gate long since have clos'd, 
And our dear Lord in bliss repos'd 

High above mortal ken, 
To every ear in every land 
(Though meek ears only understand)* 

He speaks as He did then. 

" Ah wherefore persecute ye me? 
" 'Tis hard, ye so in love should bef 

" With your own endless woe. 
*' Know, though at God's right hand I live, 
" I feel each wound ye reckless give 

" To the least saint below. 

" I in your care my brethren left, J 
" Not willing ye should be bereft 
" Of waiting on your Lord. 



* [ Is it not to meekness, as the fruit of faith, that the richest encourage- 
ments of the Scripture are given ? " The meek will he guide in judgment, 
and the meek will he teach his way." The same sentiment is embodied in 
the promise of the same Psalm (25), " The secret of the Lord is with them 
that fear him." It is the meek and contrite spirit which is described by 
Isaiah as trembling at God's word. And is not the spirit of meekness the 
spirit of that precious text, " If any man will do his will, he shall know of 
the doctrine, whether it be of God ?" At least it may be said, that meekness 
is eminently the element of Christian discipleship. ] 

f [ " It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" — resistance to the will 
of God is self-destruction. The figure is taken from the Eastern mode of driv- 
ing oxen with a goad, against which the restive animal kicks back, and hurts 
himself. ] 

J [ " The poor ye have always with you." ] 

Z 



306 The Conversion of St. Paul. 

" The meanest offering ye can make — 
" A drop of water — for love's sake,* 
" In Heaven, be sure, is stor'd." 

O by those gentle tones and dear, 
When Thou hast stay'd our wild career, 

Thou only hope of souls, 
Ne'er let us cast one look behind, 
But in the thought of Jesus find 

What every thought controls. 

As to thy last Apostle's heart 

Thy lightning glance did then impart 

Zeal's never-dying fire, 
So teach us on thy shrine to lay 
Our hearts, and let them day by day 

Intenser blaze and higher. 

And as each mild and winning note 
(Like pulses that round harp-strings float, 

When the full strain is o'er) 
Left lingering on his inward ear 
Music, that taught, as death drew near, 

Love's lesson more and more : 

So, as we walk our earthly round, 
Still may the echo of that sound 
Be in our memory stor'd : 

* St. Matthew x. 42. 



The Conversion of St. Paul. 307 

" Christians ! behold your happy state : 
" Christ is in these, who round you wait ; 
" Make much of your dear Lord !" 



Wxz iPurtffcatfon,* 

[February 2.] 



Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

St. Matthew v. 8, 



[Almighty and everliving God, we humbly beseech thy Ma- 
jesty, that as thy only begotten Son was this day presented in 
the Temple in substance of our flesh ; so we may be presented 
unto thee with pure and clean hearts, by the same thy Son Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

BLESS'D are the pure in heart, 
For they shall see our God, 

* [ This is a double festival. It commemorates the offering under the law 
made by the blessed mother, and the presentation, in agreement with the 
provision of the same law, of the incarnate Son, in the temple of his Father. 
The narrative, as it is recorded by St. Luke i. 22 — 39, needs no explanation, 
and can receive no additional interest. In the Book of Common Prayer, the 
name of the festival is more fully descriptive of it3 objects, — " The Presenta- 
tion of Christ in the Temple, commonly called the Purification of Saint Mary 
the Virgin." It is also known in England as " Candlemas day," because 
formerly at its celebration candles were lighted in the Churches. " We 
carry lights in our hands," says a writer of the twelfth century, quoted by 



308 The Purification. 

The secret of the Lord is theirs, 
Their soul is Christ's abode., 

Might mortal thought presume 
To guess an angel's lay, 
Such are the notes that echo through 
The courts of Heaven to-day. 

Such the triumphal hymns 
On Sion's Prince that wait, 
In high procession passing on 
Towards His temple-gate. 

Give ear, ye kings — bow downy 
Ye rulers of the earth — 
This, this is He ; your Priest by grace, 
Your God and King by birth. 

No pomp of earthly guards 
Attends with sword and spear, 
And all-defying, dauntless look, 

Their monarches way to clear : 



Bishop Sparrow, " first, to signify that our light should shine before men ; 
secondly, this we do this day especially in memory of the wise virgins, of 
whom this blessed virgin is the chief, who went to meet their Lord with their 
lamps lighted and burning." But a better reason is found in the description 
given of our Lord on this occasion, by good old Simeon, as " a light to lighten 
the Gentiles." The practice was interdicted in 1^48, by the order of Arch-, 
bishop Cranmer. ] 



The Purification, 309 

Yet are there more with him 
Than all that are with you — 
The armies of the highest Heaven, 
All righteous, good, and true. 

Spotless their robes and pure, 
Dipp'd in the sea of light, 
That hides the unapproached shrine 
From men's and angels' sight. 

His throne, thy bosom blest, 
O Mother undefil'd— 
That throne, if aught beneath the skies, 
Beseems the sinless child. 

Lost in high thoughts, " whose son 
" The wondrous Babe might prove," 
Her guileless husband walks beside, 
Bearing the hallow'd dove ;* 

Meet emblem of His vow, 
Who, on this happy day, 
His dove-like soul — best sacrifice — 
Did on God's altar lay. 



* [ This was the offering permitted by the law to the poor. "And if she 
be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtle-doves." Leviticus 
xii. 8. So did he, who was rich 3 for our sakes become poor. ] 

z2 



310 The Purification. 

But who is he, by years* 
Bow'd, but erect in heart, 
Whose prayers are struggling with his tears ? 
"Lord, let me now depart. 

" Now hath thy servant seen 
" Thy saving health, O Lord : 
" 'Tis time that I depart in peace, 
" According to thy word." 

Yet swells the pomp : one more 
Comes forth to bless her God : 
Full fourscore years, meek widow, shet 
Her heaven- ward way hath trod. 

She who to earthly joys 
So long had given farewell, 
Now sees, unlook'd for, Heaven on earth, 
Christ in His Israel. 

Wide open from that hour 
The temple-gates are set, 
And still the saints rejoicing there 
The holy Child have met. 



* [ Simeon, a man just and devout, who waited for the consolation of 
Israel. ] 

| [ Anna, a prophetess, a widow of about fourscore and four years, which 
departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night 
and day. Such as these two devout and holy persons are they to whom, in 
all ages, the Lord's Christ has been revealed. ] 



The Purification, 

Now count his train to-day, 
And who may meet him, learn : 
Him child-like sires, meek maidens find, 
Where pride can nought discern. 

Still to the lowly soul 
He doth himself impart, 
And for His cradle and His throne 
Chooseth the pure in heart.* 



311 



* [ There are more senses than one in which the blessedness of seeing God 
belongs to the pure in heart. To them it is given to understand his will here, 
as hereafter to know even as they are known. ] 



St 3^^11111^^ Bag*' 

[FEBRUARY 24.] 



Wherefore of these men, which have companied with us all the time that 
the Lord Jesus went in and out among us ; beginning from the baptism of 
John, until that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be 
ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. Acts i. 21, 22. [Scrip- 
ture for the Epistle.] 



[O Almighty God, who into the place of the traitor Judas didst 
choose thy faithful servant Matthias, to be of the number of the 
twelve apostles; grant that thy Church, being always preserved 
from false apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and 
true Pastors, through Jesus Christ our Lord. J2men.] 

WHO is God's chosen priest? 
He, who on Christ stands waiting day and night, 
Who trac'd His holy steps, nor ever ceas'd 
From Jordan banks to Bethphage height : 



* [ St. Matthias, probably of the seventy, was chosen under the divine 
direction, to supply the vacant apostleship of Judas, who, " by transgression, 
fell." It is remarkable that this event, as St. Peter plainly showed (Acts i. 
20), was the subject of express prophecy. } 



St. Matthias' Day. 313 

Who hath learn'd lowliness 
From his Lord's cradle, patience from his cross ; 
Whom poor men's eyes and hearts consent to bless ; 
To whom, for Christ, the world is loss ; 

Who both in agony 
Hath seen Him and in glory ; and in both 
Own'd Him divine, and yielded, nothing loth, 
Body and soul, to live and die, 

In witness of his Lord, 
In humble following of his Saviour dear : 
This is the man to wield th' unearthly sword, 
Warring unharm'd with sin and fear. 

But who can e'er suffice* — 
What mortal — for this more than angel's task, 
Winning or losing souls, Thy life-blood's price ? 
The gift were too divine to ask, 

But Thou hast made it sure 
By Thy dear promise to Thy Church and Bride, 
That Thou, on earth, would'st aye with her endure, 
Till earth to Heaven be purified.t 

Thou art her only spouse, 
Whose arm supports her, on whose faithful breast 

* [ Who is sufficient for these things ? 2 Corinthians ii. 16. ] 
t [ Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. St. Mau 
theto xxviii. 20. ] 



314 St. Matthias' Day. 

Her persecuted head she meekly bows, 
Sure pledge of her eternal rest. 

Thou, her unerring guide, 
Stayest her fainting steps along the wild ; 
Thy mark is on the bowers of lust and pride, 
That she may pass them undenTd. 

Who then, uncall'd by Thee, 
Dare touch thy spouse, thy very self below 1 
Or who dare count him summon'd worthily, 
Except thine hand and seal he show ? 

Where can thy seal be found, 
But on the chosen seed, from age to age 
By thine anointed heralds duly crown'd, 
As kings and priests thy war to wage t* 

Then fearless walk we forth, 
Yet full of trembling, Messengers of God : 



* [ This is a pregnant question. The ministers of Christ either represent 
him, or act in their own name. If the latter, what authority have they more 
than other men ? If the former, where is the evidence of their authority to 
represent Christ ? That he sent the apostles in his own name is evident. That 
they in like manner sent others is evident. That from the apostles' times the 
sacred chain has never yet been broken is evident. Where shall the seal be 
looked for then, but among them who, from age to age, have still been sent by 
those whom Christ sent, as the Father first sent him ? What warrant surer 
need there be than theirs, which, issued at the first by Christ himself, has since 
been handed down, from hand to hand, as duly and as certainly as the inspir- 
ed record of our faith ? ] 



St. Matthias 1 Bay. 315 

Our warrant sure, but doubting of our worth, 
By our own shame alike and glory aw'd. 

Dread Searcher of the hearts, 
Thou who didst seal by thy descending Dove 
Thy servant's choice, help us in our parts, 

Else helpless found, to learn and teach thy love. 



Eht &nnxmtiutiou of the Mznutti ®trgin 

[March 25.] 



And the Angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favour- 
ed, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. St. Luke i. 28. 
[Gospel for the day.] 



[We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts ; that 
as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the 
message of an angel ; so by his cross and passion we may be 
brought unto the glory of his resurrection through the same Jesus 
Christ our Lord. J3men.~\ 

OH Thou who deign'st to sympathize 
With all our frail and fleshly ties, 

* [ This festival, frequently denominated Lady Day, commemorates the 
annunciation, or declaration made by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, 
that she should become, by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, the mother 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. ] 



316 The Annunciation. 

Maker, yet Brother dear, 
Forgive the too presumptuous thought, 
If, calming wayward grief, I sought 

To gaze on Thee too near. 

Yet sure 'twas not presumption, Lord, 
'Twas thine own comfortable word 

That made the lesson known ; 
Of all the dearest bonds we prove, 
Thou countest sons' and mothers' love 

Most sacred, most thine own. 

When wandering here a little span, 
Thou took'st on Thee to rescue man, 

Thou hadst no earthly sire : 
That wedded love we prize so dear, 
As if our heaven and home were here, 

It lit in Thee no fire. 

On no sweet sister's faithful breast 
Wouldst thou thine aching forehead rest, 

On no kind brother lean : 
But who, perfect filial heart, 
E'er did like Thee a true son's part, 

Endearing, firm, serene ? 

Thou wept'st, meek maiden, mother mild, 
Thou wept'st upon thy sinless child, 
Thy very heart was riven : 



The Annunciation. 317 

And yet, what mourning matron here 
Would deem thy sorrows bought too dear 
By all on this side heaven? 

A son that never did amiss, 

That never sham'd his mother's kiss, 

Nor cross'd her fondest prayer: 
Even from the tree he deign'd to bow 
For her his agonized brow, 

Her, his sole earthly care.* 

Ave Maria ! blessed Maid ! 
Lily of Eden's fragrant shade, 

Who can express the love 
That nurtur'd thee so pure and sweet, 
Making thy heart a shelter meet 

For Jesus' holy Dove ? 

Ave Maria ! Mother blest, 

To whom caressing and caress'd, 

Clings the Eternal child; 
Favour' d beyond Archangel's dream, 
When first on thee with tenderest gleam 

Thy new-born Saviour smil'd : — 



* [ There is no passage in the whole Scripture of deeper and more touch- 
ing pathos than that which records the Saviour's commendation of his mo- 
ther to the heloved disciple. " When Jesus, therefore, saw his mother and 
the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, 
behold thy Son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother; and from 
that hour that disciple took her to his own home." St. John xix. 26, 27. ] 

2 A 



318 The, Annunciation . 

Ave Maria ! Thou whose name 
All but adoring love may claim,* 

Yet may we reach thy shrine ; 
For He, thy Son and Saviour, vows 
To crown all lowly lofty brows 

With love and joy like thine. 

Bless'd is the womb that bare Him — bless'df 
The bosom where his lips were press'd, 
But rather bless'd are they 



* [ The Church in this, as in all other things, follows closely after the 
Scriptures. The mother of our Lord she regards and honours as " blessed 
among women ;" but she pays her no adoration, and raises her into no com- 
petition with the " one mediator between God and man." So Bishop Mant, — 

" Blest among women is thy lot : 
But higher meed we yield thee not, 
Nor more than woman's name. 

" Nor solemn ' Hail' to thee we pay 
Nor prayer to thee for mercy pray, 

Nor hymn of glory raise ; 
Nor thine we deem is God's high throne, 
Nor thine the birth-right of thy Son 

The Mediator's praise. 

" Mother of Jesus, Parent dear ! 

If aught of earthly thou couldst hear, 

If aught of human see ; 
What pangs thy humble heart must wring, 
To know thy Saviour, Lord and King, 
Dishonoured thus for thee!" ] 
t St. Luke xi. 27, 28. 



The Annunciation. 319 

Who hear his word and keep it well, 
The living homes where Christ shall dwell, 
And never pass away. 



Si J&arfe's Was.* 

[April 25.] 



And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asun- 
der the one from the other. Acts xv. 39. 

Compare 2 Timothy iv. 11. Take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is 
profitable to me for the ministry. 



[O Almighty God, who hast instructed thy Holy Church with 
the heavenly doctrine of thy Evangelist Saint Mark ; give us 
grace, that being not like children carried away with every blast 
of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of the holy 
Gospel, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

OH ! who shall dare in this frail scene 
On holiest happiest thoughts to lean, 

On Friendship, Kindred, or on Love ? 

* [ St. Mark is one of the two who are commemorated by the Church 
as Evangelists 5 he having written one of the four Gospels, though not called 
to be an apostle. He was the companion, however, of Paul and Barnabas and 
Peter, with whom he preached the Gospel. He was the sister's son of Bar- 
nabas, his mother being that Mary to whose house at Jerusalem the disciples- 
much resorted {Acts xii. 12). He is commonly known in Scripture as John 
Mark, and is declared by Eusebius to have been the first bishop of Alexan- 
dria. ] 



320 St. Mark's Bay. 

Since not Apostles' hands can clasp 
Each other in so firm a grasp, 

But they shall change and variance prove. 

Yet deem not, on such parting sad 
Shall dawn no welcome dear and glad : 

Divided in their earthly race, 
Together at the glorious goal, 
Each leading many a rescu'd soul, 

The faithful champions shall embrace. 

For even as those mysterious Four, 
Who the bright whirling wheels upbore 

By Chebar in the fiery blast,* 
So, on their tasks of love and praise 
The saints of God their several ways 

Right onward speed, yet join atlast.f 

And sometimes even beneath the moon 
The Saviour gives a gracious boon, 
When reconciled Christians meet, 

* Ezekiel i. 9. They turned not when they went — they went every one 
straight forward. 

| [ The whole passage in Ezekiel is most glorious and majestic. The 
paraphrase here used of the Scriptural phrase " straight forward" is Mil- 
tonic, — 

" Yet, I argue not 

Against Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot 
Of heart or hope ; hut still bear up, and steer 
Right onward." 

Sonnet to Cijriac Skinner. ] 



St. Mark's Bay. 321 

And face to face, and heart to heart, 
High thoughts of holy love impart 

In silence meek, or converse sweet. 

Companion of the Saints ! 'twas thine 
To taste that drop of peace divine, 

When the great soldier of thy Lord 
Call'd thee to take his last farewell,* 
Teaching the Church with joy to tell 

The story of your love restor'd. 

O then the glory and the bliss, 
When all that pain'd or seem'd amiss 

Shall melt with earth and sin away! 
When saints beneath their Saviour's eye, 
Fill'd with each other's company, 

Shall spend in love the eternal day ! 

* [ It is delightful to see that as the first of the two texts quoted as a 
motto to these verses, exhibits the apostles as men in their contention, the 
second represents them as Christian men in their reconciliation. Of the same 
Mark, St. Paul elsewhere speaks, as being with him in his imprisonment at 
Rome, and being a " comfort" to him. Col. iv. 11. ] 



2 a2 



St Pulfp an* St. James.* 

[May 1.] 

Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted : but the rich, in 
that he is made low. St. James i. 9, 10. [Epistle for the day.] 



[O Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life; 
grant us perfectly to know thy Son Jesus Christ to be the way, 
the truth and the life ; that following the steps of thy Holy Apos- 
tles, Saint Philip and Saint James, we may steadfastly walk in 
the way that leadeth to eternal life, through the same thy Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.~\ 

DEAR is the morning gale of spring, 
And dear th' autumnal eve ; 



* [ Philip, a fisherman of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, was 
the first disciple whom our Saviour called, and was numbered with the twelve 
Apostles. James, also one of the twelve, is called in Scripture the son ot 
Alpheus, or Cleophas, and also the brother of our Lord — that is, his near 
Kinsman, their mothers being sisters. He is called James the less (either in 
reference to his stature, or his age, or perhaps his inferior prominence in the 
Gospel), to distinguish him from James the greater, the son of Zebedee. 
He was also surnamed the Just. He wrote the general Epistle which bears 
his name, and was the first Bishop of Jerusalem. ] 



St. Philip and St. James, 323 

But few delights can summer bring 
A Poet's crown to weave. 

Her bowers are mute, her fountains dry. 

And ever Fancy's wing 
Speeds from beneath her cloudless sky, 

To autumn or to spring. 

Sweet is the infant's waking smile, 

And sweet the old man's rest — 
But middle age by no fond wile, 

No soothing calm is blest. 

Still in the world's hot restless gleam 

She plies her weary task, 
While vainly for some pleasant dream 

Her wandering glances ask. — 

shame upon thee, listless heart, 

So sad a sigh to heave, 
As if thy Saviour had no part 

In thoughts, that make thee grieve. 

As if along his lonesome way 

He had not borne for thee 
Sad languors through the summer day, 

Storms on the wintry sea. 

Youth's lightning flash of joy secure 
Pass'd seldom o'er His spright, — 



324 St. Philip and St. James. 

A well of serious thought and pure. 
Too deep for earthly light. 

No spring was His — no fairy gleam — 

For He by trial knew 
How cold and bare what mortals dream, 

To worlds where all is true.* 

Then grudge not thou the anguish keen 
Which makes thee like thy Lord, 

And learn to quit with eye serene 
Thy youth's ideal hoard. 

Thy treasur'd hopes and raptures high — 
Unmurmuring let them go, 

Nor grieve the bliss should quickly fly 
Which Christ disdain'd to know. 

Thou shalt have joy in sadness soon ; 

The pure, calm hope be thine, 
Which brightens, like the eastern moon, 

As day's wild lights decline. 

Thus souls, by nature pitch'd too high, 
By sufferings plung'd too low, 

Meet in the Church's middle sky, 
Half way 'twixt joy and woe, 



* [ To, compared with. ] 



St. Philip and St. James. 325 



To practise there the soothing lay- 
That sorrow best relieves : 

Thankful for all God takes away, 
Humbled by all He gives. 



[June 11.] 

The Son of consolation, a Levite. 



Acts iv. 36. 



[O Lord God Almighty, who didst endue thy holy Apostle Bar- 
nabas with singular gifts of the Holy Ghost; leave us not, we be- 
seech thee, destitute of thy manifold gifts, nor yet of grace to use 
them alway to thy honour and glory, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Jlmen.~\ 

THE world 's a room of sickness, where each heart 

Knows its own anguish and unrest ; 
The truest wisdom there, and noblest art, 

Is his, who skills of comfort best ; 

* [ Joses, afterwards called Barnabas, was a Jew of Cyprus. From the 
riale of his estates, and contribution of the value, for the relief of the poor, 
at the time of his conversion to the Christian faith, he received the latter 
name, which signifies "son of consolation." He is called in Scripture an 
Apostle, though not one of the twelve, and was much associated with St. 
Paul in the work of edifying the Church. ] 



326 St. Barnabas. 

Whom by the softest step and gentlest tone 
Enfeebled spirits own, 
And love to raise the languid eye, 
When, like an angel's wing, they feel him fleeting by : — 

Feel only — for in silence gently gliding 

Fain would he shun both ear and sight, 
'Twixt Prayer and watchful Love his heart dividing, 

A nursing father day and night.* 
Such were the tender arms, where cradled lay, 
In her sweet natal day, 
The Church of Jesus ; such the love 
He to his chosen taught for His dear widow'd Dove. 

Warm'd underneath the Comforter's safe wing 
They spread th' endearing warmth around : 
Mourners, speed here your broken hearts to bring, 

Here healing dews and balms abound : 
Here are soft hands that cannot bless in vain, 
By trial taught your pain : 
Here loving hearts, that daily know 
The heavenly consolations they on you bestow. 

Sweet thoughts are theirs, that breathe serenest calms, 
Of holy offerings timely paid,t 



* [ Can there be imagined a delineation more delightful than this of the 
pastoral visitation of the sick ? ] 

f Acts iv. 37. Having land, he sold it, and brought the money, and laid 
it at the Apostles' feet. 



St. Barnabas. 327 

Of fire from Heaven to bless their votive alms 

And passions on God's altar laid. 
The world to them is clos'd, and now they shine 
With rays of love divine, 
Through darkest nooks of this dull earth 
Pouring, in showery times, their glow of " quiet mirth." 

New hearts before their Saviour's feet to lay, 

This is their first their dearest joy : 
Their next, from heart to heart to clear the way,* 

For mutual love without alloy : 
Never so blest, as when in Jesus' roll 
They write some hero-soul, 
More pleas' d upon his brightening road 
To wait, than if their own with all his radiance glow'd. 

happy spirits, mark'd by God and man 

Their messages of love to bear,t 
What though long since in Heaven your brows began 

The genial amarant wreath to wear, 
And in th' eternal leisure of calm love 
Ye banquet there above, 
Yet in your sympathetic heart 
We and our earthly griefs may ask and hope a part. 



* Acts ix. 27. Barnabas took him, and brought him (Saul) to the Apos- 
tles. [ It is said that Barnabas and Saul were fellow-disciples of Gamaliel, 
and hence their acquaintance. ] 

f Acts xi. 22; xiii. 2. 



328 St. Barnabas. 

Comfort's true sons ! amid the thoughts of down 

That strew your pillow of repose, 
Sure, 'tis one joy to muse, how ye unknown 

By sweet remembrance soothe our woes, 
And how the spark ye lit, of heavenly cheer, 
Lives in our embers here, 
Where'er the Cross is born with smiles, 
Or lighten'd secretly by Love's endearing wiles : 

Where'er one Levite in the temple keeps 
The watch-fire of his midnight prayer, 
Or issuing thence, the eyes of mourners steeps 

In heavenly balm, fresh gather'd there; 
Thus saints, that seem to die in earth's rude strife, 
Only win double life : 
They have but left our weary ways 
To live in memory here, in heaven by love and praise. 



St Jofw ft&ptint'n Hag/ 

[June 24.] 



Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day 
of the Lord : and he shall turn the heart of the fathers unto the children, and 
the heart of the children to the fathers. Malachi iv. 5, 6. [First Evening 
Lesson.] 



[Almighty God, by whose providence thy servant John Baptist 
was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of thy Son our 
Saviour, by preaching repentance ; make us so to follow his doc- 
trine and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his 
preaching; and after his example constantly speak the truth, 
boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

TWICE in her season of decay 
The fallen Church hath felt Elijah's eye 

Dart from the wild its piercing ray : 
Not keener burns, in the chill morning sky, 

* [ John the Baptist was the predicted forerunner of Jesus, and his miss- 
ion forms the connecting link between the Old and New Testaments. He 
was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, and took the name, which distin- 
guishes him from John the Apostle and Evangelist, from his administration of 

2b 



330 St. John Baptist's Day. 

The herald star 
Whose touch afar 
Shadows and boding night-birds fly. 

Methinks we need him once again, 
That favour' d seer — but where shall he be found ? 

By Cherith's side we seek in vain, 
In vain on Carmel's green and lonely mound: 
Angels no more 
From Sinai soar, 
On his celestial errands bound. 

But wafted to her glorious place 
By harmless fire, among the ethereal thrones, 

His spirit with a dear embrace 
Thee the lov'd harbinger of Jesus owns, 
Well pleas' d to view 
Her likeness true, 
And trace, in thine, her own deep tones. 

Deathless himself, he joys with thee 
To commune how a faithful martyr dies, 

And in the blest could envy be, 
He would behold thy wounds with envious eyes, 



the rite of baptism to the multitudes of Judea, and to our blessed Lord. In 
the case of all the other saints, except St. Paul, their martyrdom is celebrated : 
in his, his nativity; thus literally fulfilling the prediction of the angel, that 
many should " rejoice in his birth." ] 



St. John Baptist's Day. 331 

Star of our morn, 
Who yet unborn* 
Didst guide our hope, where Christ should rise. 

Now resting from your jealous care 
For sinners, such as Eden cannot know, 
Ye pour for us your mingled prayer, 
No anxious fear to damp Affection's glow, 
Love draws a cloud 
From you to shroud 
Rebellion's mystery here below. 

And since we see, and not afar, 
The twilight of the great and dreadful day, 

Why linger, till Elijah's car 
Stoop from the clouds ? Why sleep ye ? rise and pray, 
Ye heralds seal'd 
In camp or field 
Your Saviour's banner to display. 

Where is the lore the Baptist taught, 
The soul unswerving and the fearless tongue ?t 

The much-enduring wisdom, sought 
By lonely prayer the haunted rocks among ? 



* St. Luke i. 44. The Babe leaped in her womb for joy. 

| [ After his example, says the Church, in the collect for this day, " con- 
stantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the 
truth's sake." ] 



332 St, John Baptist's Day, 

Who counts it gain* 
His light should wane, 
So the whole world to Jesus throng? 

Thou Spirit who the Church didst lend 
Her eagle wings, to shelter in the wild,t 

We pray thee, ere the Judge descend, 
With flames like these, all bright and undenTd, 
Her watchfires light, 
To guide aright 
Our weary souls, by earth beguil'd. 

So glorious let thy Pastors shine, 
That by their speaking lives the world may learn 

First filial duty, then divine4 
That sons to parents, all to Thee may tum; 
And ready prove 
In fires of love, 
At sight of Thee, for aye to burn. 

* St. John iii. 30. He must increase, but I must decrease. 

t Revelations xii. 14. 

X Malachi iv. 6. He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, 
and the heart of the children to the fathers. 

St. Luke i. 17. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the 
disobedient to the wisdom of the just ; to make ready a people prepared for 
the Lord. 



St. ^tttv'B 33ag/* 

[June 29.] 

When Herod would have brought him out, the same night Peter was sleep- 
ing. Acts xii. 6. [Scripture for the Epistle.} 

[O Almighty God, who, by tby Son Jesus Christ, didst give to 
thy Apostle Saint Peter many excellent gifts, and commandedst 
him earnestly to feed thy flock ; make, we beseech thee, all Bishops 
and Pastors diligently to preach thy holy Word, and the people 
obediently to follow the same, that they may receive the crown 
of everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

THOU thrice denied, yet thrice belov'd,t 
Watch by thine own forgiven friend ,* 



* [ Peter, anative and fisherman of Bethsaida, was the brother of Andrew, 
and resided in Capernaum. He was among the first followers of Jesus, and 
one of the twelve Apostles. To his name Simon, Jesus added that of Peter 
(or Cephas), the one the Greek, and the other the Hebrew name, for rock. He, 
with James the greater and John, was the most favoured of the Apostles. He 
was illustrious for his zeal and activity, as also for his denial of his Lord, and 
subsequent repentance. He was more especially the Apostle of the Jews, as 
Paul was of the Gentiles. His labours in planting the Gospel were great and 
successful. He has left two general Epistles. ] 

f St. John xxi. 15, 16, 17. 

2 b2 



334 St. Peter's Day. 

In sharpest perils faithful proVd, 
Let his soul love thee to the end. 

The prayer is heard — else why so deep 

His slumber on the eve of death ?* 
And wherefore smiles he in his sleep 

As one who drew celestial breath ? 

He loves and is belov'd again — 

Can his soul choose but be at rest ? 
Sorrow hath fled away, and Pain 

Dares not invade the guarded nest. 

He dearly loves, and not alone : 

For his wing'd thoughts are soaring high 

Where never yet frail heart was known 
To breathe in vain affection's sigh. 

He loves and weeps— but more than tears 
Have seal'd thy welcome and his love — 
One look lives in him, and endears 
Crosses and wrongs where'er he rove : 

That gracious chiding look,t Thy call 

To win him to himself and Thee, 
Sweetening the sorrow of his fall 

Which else were ru'd too bitterly. 

* [ His being found sleeping, beautifully illustrates his Christian calmness 
and composure. ] 
t St. Luke xxii. 61. 



St. Peter's Day. 335 

Even through the veil of sleep it shines, 
The memory of that kindly glance ; — 

The Angel watching by< divines 
And spares awhile his blissful trance. 

Or haply to his native lake* 

His vision wafts him back, to talk 
With Jesus, ere his flight he takes, 

As in that solemn evening walk, 

When to the bosom of his friend, 

The Shepherd, He whose name is Good, 

Did His dear lambs and sheep commend, 
Both bought and nourished with His blood : 

Then laid on him th' inverted tree,t 

Which firm embrac'd with heart and arm, 

Might cast o'er hope and memory, 
O'er life and death, its awful charm. 

With brightening heart he bears it on, 

His passport thro' th' eternal gates, 
To his sweet home — so nearly won, 

He seems, as by the door he waits, 



* [ See the passage here so happily alluded to, John xxi. 15—17. ] 
f [ He is said to have been crucified with his head downwards. ] 



336 



St. Peter's Day. 



The unexpressive notes to hear* 

Of angel song and angel motion, 
Rising and falling on the ear 

Like waves in Joy's unbounded ocean.*^- 

His dream is chang'd— - the Tyrant's voice 

Calls to that last of glorious deeds— 
But as he rises to rejoice, 

Not Herod but an Angel leads .t 

He dreams he sees a lamp flash bright,^ 

Glancing around his prison room,- — 
But 'tis a gleam of heavenly light 

That fills up all the ample gloom. 

The flame, that in a few short years 
Deep through the chambers of the dead 

Shall pierce, and dry the fount of tears, 
Is waving o'er his dungeon-bed. 

Touch'd he upstarts — his chains unbind§ — 
Through darksome vault, up massy stair, 

His dizzy, doubting footsteps wind 
To freedom and cool moonlight air. 

* [ So Milton of his dead Lycidas, 

" And hears the unexpressive nuptial song, 
In the blest kingdoms meek of joy and love." J 

t [ And behold the Angel of the Lord came upon him. ] 

% [ And a light shined in the prison. ] 

§ [ See the whole passage here so finely paraphrased, Acts xii. 6—19. ] 



St. Peter's Day. 337 

Then all himself, all joy and calm, 

Though for a while his hand forego, 
Just as it touch'd, the martyr's palm, 

He turns him to his task below ; 

The pastoral staff, the keys of heaven, 
To wield awhile in grey-hair' d might, 

Then from his cross to spring forgiven, 
And follow Jesus out of sight. 



St James* BU&* 

[July 25.] 



Ye shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I 
am baptized with : but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to 
give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. St. 
■Matthew xx. 23. {Gospel for the day.] 



[Grant, O merciful God, that as thine holy Apostle Saint James, 
leaving his father and all that he had, without delay was obedient 
unto the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him ; so we, 
forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be evermore 
ready to follow thy holy commandments, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.] 

SIT down and take thy fill of joy 

At God's right hand, a bidden guest, 
Drink of the cup that cannot cloy, 

Eat of the bread that cannot waste. 

* [James the greater, the son of Zebedee, was a fisherman of Galilee. 
Called by Christ, both he and his brother John straightway followed him. 
They were named, by our Lord, Boanerges, or sons of thunder, expressive of 
their zeal and devotion to his cause ; and with Peter enjoyed his chief con- 
fidence. He was the first of the twelve Apostles who suffered martyrdom, 
being slain, by command of Herod, with a sword. ] 



St* James' Day. 339 

O great Apostle ! rightly now 

Thou readest all thy Saviour meant, 
What time His grave yet gentle brow 

In sweet reproof on thee was bent. 

' Seek ye to sit enthron'd by me ? 

" Alas ! ye know not what ye ask, 
' The first in shame and agony, 

" The lowest in the meanest task— 
' This can ye be ? and can ye drink 

" The cup that I in tears must steep, 
* Nor from the whelming waters shrink 

" That o'er me roll so dark and deep ?" 

' We can — thine are we, dearest Lord, 

"In glory and in agony, 
' To do and suffer all Thy word ; 

" Only be Thou for ever nigh." — 
' Then be it so — my cup receive, 

" And of my woes baptismal taste: 
' But for the crown, that angels weave 

" For those next me in glory plac'd, 

' I give it not by partial love ; 

" But in my Father's book are writ 
« What names on earth shall lowliest prove, 

" That they in Heaven may highest sit." 
Take up the lesson, my heart ; 

Thou Lord of meekness, write it there, 



340 



St, James' Day, 



Thine own meek self to me impart, 
Thy lofty hope, thy lowly prayer. 

If ever on the mount with Thee 

I seem to soar in vision bright, 
With thoughts of coming agony* 

Stay thou the too presumptuous flight : 
Gently along the vale of tears 

Lead me from Tabor's sunbright steep, 
Let me not grudge a few short years 

With Thee tow'rd Heaven to walk and weep : 

Too happy, on my silent path, 

If now and then allow' d with Thee 
Watching some placid holy death, 

Thy secret work of love to see ; 
But oh most happy, should thy call, 

Thy welcome call, at last be given — 
" Come where thou long hast stor'd thy all, 

" Come see thy place prepar'd in Heaven." 

* St. Matthew xvii. 12. " Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of 
them." This was just after the transfiguration. 



St asartfiolometo-* 

[August 24.] 



Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee 
under the fig-tree, believest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than these. 
St. John i. 50. 



[O Almighty and everlasting God, who didst give to thine 
Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy 
word ; grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church, to love that 
word which he believed, and both to preach and receive the 
same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.~\ 

HOLD up thy mirror to the sun, 
And thou shalt need an eagle's gaze, 

So perfectly the polish' d stone 
Gives back the glory of his rays : 

Turn it, and it shall paint as true 
The soft green of the vernal earth, 

And each small flower of bashful hue, 
That closest hides its lowly birth. 

* [ Bartholomew, one of the twelve Apostles, is generally believed to have 
been that Nathanael of whom Jesus said, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in 
whom is no guile." ] 

2 c 



342 St. Bartholomew. 

Our mirror is a blessed book, 

Where out from each illumin'd page 

We see one glorious Image look 
All eyes to dazzle and engage, 

The Son of God : and that indeed 

We see Him as He is, we know, 
Since in the same bright glass we read 

The very life of things below. — 

Eye of God's word !* where'er we turn 

Ever upon us ! thy keen gaze 
Can all the depths of sin discern, 

Unravel every bosom's maze : 

Who that has felt thy glance of dread 
Thrill through his heart's remotest cells, 

About his path, about his bed, 

Can doubt what spirit in thee dwells ? 

44 What word is this ? Whence know'st thou me ?" 
All wondering cries the humbled heart, 

To hear thee that deep mystery, 
The knowledge of itself, impart. 

* " The position before us is, that we ourselves, and such as we, are the 
very persons whom Scripture speaks of: and to whom, as men, in every 
variety of persuasive form, it makes its condescending though celestial 
appeal. The point worthy of observation is, to note how a book of the de- 
scription and the compass which we have represented Scripture to be, pos- 
sesses this versatility of power j this eye, like that of a portrait, uniformly 
fixed upon us, turn where we will." Miller's Bampton Lectures, p. 128. 



St. Bartholomew. 343 

The veil is rais'd ; who runs may read, 

By its own light the truth is seen, 
And soon the Israelite indeed 

Bows down t' adore the Nazarene. 

So did Nathanael, guileless man, 

At once, not shame-fac'd or afraid, 
Owning him God, who so could scan 

His musings in the lonely shade ; 

In his own pleasant fig-tree's shade,* 
Which by his household fountain grew, 

Where at noon-day his prayer he made, 
To know God better than he knew. 

Oh ! happy hours of heaven-ward thought ! 

How richly crown'd ! how well improv'd ! 
In musing o'er the Law he taught, 

In waiting for the Lord he lov'd. 

We must not mar with earthly praise 

What God's approving word hath seal'd ; 

Enough, if right our feeble lays 
Take up the promise He reveal'd ; 

" The child-like faith, that asks not sight, 
« Waits not for wonder or for sign, 



* [ " Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I 
saw thee." ] 



344 St. Bartholomew. 

"Believes, because it loves, aright — 
" Shall see things greater, things divine. 

" Heaven to that gaze shall open wide,* 

"And brightest angels to and fro 
" On messages of love shall glide 

" 'Twixt God above, and Christ below." 

So still the guileless man is blest, 

To him all crooked paths are straight, 

Him on his way to endless rest 

Fresh, ever-growing strengths await.f 

God's witnesses, a glorious host, 

Compass him daily like a cloud ; 
Martyrs and seers, the sav'd and lost, 

Mercies and judgments cry aloud. 

Yet shall to him the still small voice, 

That first into his bosom found 
A way, and flx'd his wavering choice, 

Nearest and dearest ever sound. 

* [ " Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascend- 
ing and descending upon the Son of man." ] 

f Psalm lxxxiv. 7. They shall go from strength to strength. 



[September 21.] 



And after these things, He went forth and saw a publican named Levi, sit- 
ting at the receipt of custom, and He said unto him, Follow me : and he left 
all, rose up, and followed Him. St. Luke v. 27, 28. 



[O Almighty God, who by thy blessed Son didst callMatthew 
from the receipt of custom, to be an Apostle and Evangelist ; 
grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires, and inordinate 
love of riches ; and to follow the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who 
liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God. 
world without end. Amen.\ 

YE hermits blest, ye holy maids, 

The nearest heaven on earth, 
Who talk with God in shadowy glades, 

Free from rude care and mirth ; 



* [ Matthew, called also Levi,was a publican, or collector of taxes, under 
the Roman government. He was sitting " at the receipt of custom," when, 
called by Jesus to be his disciple, he arose and followed him. He was ap- 
pointed one of the twelve Apostles of our Lord, and wrote one of the four 
Gospels. ] 

2 c2 



346 St. Matthew. 

To whom some viewless teacher brings 
The secret lore of rural things, 
The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale, 
The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale : 

Say, when in pity ye have gaz'd 

On the wreath'd smoke afar, 
That o'er some town, like mist uprais'd, 

Hung, hiding sun and star, 
Then as ye turn'd your weary eye 
To the green earth and open sky, 
Were ye not fain to doubt how Faith could dwell 
Amid that dreary glare, in this world's citadel? 

But Love 's a flower that will not die 

For lack of leafy screen, 
And Christian Hope can cheer the eye* 

That ne'er saw vernal green; 
Then be ye sure that Love can bless 
Even in this crowded loneliness, 
Where ever-moving myriads seem to say, 
Go — thou art naught to us, nor we to thee — away ! 



* [It may doubtless be believed that the simplicity and retirement of the 
country is better fitted to nourish and increase spiritual religion than the 
hurry and bustle, the engrossing occupation and artificial associations, of the 
city. Yet in all places Christianity has found its true disciples ; and its pure 
doctrines and peaceful precepts, are adapted for man's reformation and con- 
solation in all places and in all conditions. ] 



St. Matthew. 347 

There are in this loud stunning 1 tide 

Of human care and crime, 
With whom the melodies abide 

Of th' everlasting chime ; 
Who carry music in their heart 
Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, 
Plying their daily task with busier feet, 
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat. 

How sweet to them, in such brief rest 

As thronging cares afford, 
In thought to wander, fancy-blest, 

To where their gracious Lord, 
In vain, to win proud Pharisees, 
Spake, and was heard by fell disease* — 
But not in vain, beside yon breezy lake,t 
Bade the meek Publican his gainful seat forsake : 

At once he rose, and left his gold ; 

His treasure and his heart 
Transferr'd, where he shall safe behold 

Earth and her idols part ; 
While he beside his endless store 
Shall sit, and floods unceasing pour 



* It seems from St. Matthew ix. 8, 9, that the calling of Levi took place 
immediately after the healing of the paralytic in the presence of the Phari- 
sees. 

f [ The lake of Gennesaret, by the side of which the custom house stood, 
in which Matthew exercised his vocation. ] 






348 St. Matthew. 

Of Christ's true riches o'er all time and space, 
First angel of his Church, first steward of his grace ;* 

Nor can ye not delight to thinkf 

Where he vouchsaf'd to eat, 
How the Most Holy did not shrink 

From touch of sinner's meat ; 
What worldly hearts and hearts impure 
Went with him through the rich man's door, 
That we might learn of Him lost souls to love, 
And view his least and worst with hope to meet above. 

These gracious lines shed Gospel light 

On Mammon's gloomiest cells, 
As on some city's cheerless night 

The tide of sun-rise swells, 
Till tower, and dome, and bridge-way proud 
Are mantled with a golden cloud, 
And to wise hearts this certain hope is given ; 
" No mist that man may raise, shall hide the eye of 
"Heaven." 

And oh ! if even on Babel shine 

Such gleams of Paradise, 
Should not their peace be peace divine, 

Who day by day arise 

* [ Angel, — Messenger, Apostle. ] 

f [ St. Matthew ix. ]0. " And Levi (Matthew) made him a great feast 
in his own house." Luke v. 29. Matthew, though he mentions the feast, 
omits, with becoming modesty, to say who gave it. ] 



St. Matthew. 349 

To look on clearer Heavens, and scan 
The work of God untouch'd by man? 
Shame on us, who about us Babel bear, 
And live in Paradise, as if God was not there ! 



St Sfflxzhutl uvcn all ^ngeii^ 

[September 29.] 



Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation ? Hebrews i. 14. 



[O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the 
services of angels and men in a wonderful order ; mercifully 
grant, that as thy holy Angels always do thee service in heaven ; 
so, by thy appointment, they may succour and defend us on earth, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jlmen.] 

YE stars that round the Sun of righteousness 

In glorious order roll, 
With harps for ever strung, ready to bless 

God for each rescued soul, 
Ye eagle spirits, that build in light divine, 

Oh think of us to day, 

* [ The Church, on this festival, commemorates the services of that order 
of celestial beings, who are appointed to minister to such as shall be heirs of 
salvation. Michael is named in the Scripture as the archangel. ] 



350 St. Michael and all Jlngels. 

Faint warblers of this earth, that would combine 
Our trembling notes with your accepted lay. 

Your amarant wreaths were earn'd ; and homeward all, 

Flush'd with victorious might, 
Ye might have sped to keep high festival, 

And revel in the light ; 
But meeting us, weak worldlings, on our way, 

Tired ere the fight begun, 
Ye turn'd to help us in the unequal fray, 
Remembering whose we were, how dearly won : 

Remembering Bethlehem, and that glorious night 

When ye, who used to soar 
Diverse along all space in fiery flight, 

Came thronging to adore 
Your God new-born, and made a sinner's child; 

As if the stars should leave 
Their stations in the far ethereal wild, 
And round the sun a radiant circle weave. , 

Nor less your lay of triumph greeted fair 

Our Champion and your King, 
In that first strife, whence Satan in despair 

Sunk down on scathed wing : 
Alone He fasted, and alone He fought ; 

But when his toils were o'er 
Ye to the sacred Hermit duteous brought 
Banquet and hymn, your Eden's festal store. 



St. Michael and all Jlngels. 351 

Ye too, when lowest in th' abyss of woe 

He plung'd to save his sheep, 
Were leaning from your golden thrones to know 

The secrets of that deep : 
But clouds were on his sorrow : one alone 

His agonizing call 
Summon'd from Heaven, to still that bitterest groan, 
And comfort Him, the Comforter of all. 

Oh ! highest favour'd of all Spirits create, 

(If right of thee we deem) 
How didst thou glide on brightening wing elate 

To meet th' unclouded beam 
Of Jesus from the couch of darkness rising ! 

How swell'd thine anthem's sound, 
With fear and mightier joy weak hearts surprising, 
" Your God is risen, and may not here be found." 

Pass a few days, and this dull darkling globe 
Must yield him from her sight ; — 

Brighter and brighter streams his glory-robe, 
And He is lost in light. 

Then, when through yonder everlasting arch, 
Ye in innumerous choir 

Pour'd, heralding Messiah's conquering march, 

Linger'd around his skirts two forms of fire : 

With us they staid, high warning to impart ; 
The Christ shall come again 



u 



352 St. Michael and all Jlngels. 

" Even as He goes ; with the same human heart, 
" With the same godlike train." — 

Oh ! jealous God ! how could a sinner dare 
Think on that dreadful day, 

But that with all thy wounds Thou wilt be there, 

And all our angel friends to bring Thee on thy way ? 

Since to thy little ones is given such grace, 

That they who nearest stand 
Alway to God in Heaven, and see His face, 

Go forth at His command, 
To wait around our path in weal or woe, 

As erst upon our King, 
Set thy baptismal seal upon our brow, 
And waft us heaven-ward with enfolding wing : 

Grant, Lord, that when around th' expiring world 

Our seraph guardians wait, 
While on her death-bed, ere to ruin hurl'd, 

She owns Thee, all too late, 
They to their charge may turn, and thankful see 

Thy mark upon us still ; 
Then all together rise, and reign with Thee, 
And all their holy joy o'er contrite hearts fulfil! 






[October 18.] 

Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. Colossians iv, 14. 
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. Only Luke is 
with me. 2 Tim. iv. 10, 11. [Epistle for the day.] 



[Almighty God, who calledst Luke the Physician, whose praise 
is in the Gospel, to be an Evangelist and Physician of the soul , 
may it please thee, that by the wholesome medicines of the doc- 
trine delivered by him, all the diseases of our souls may be healed, 
through the merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

TWO clouds before the summer gale 

In equal race fleet o'er the sky : 
Two flowers, when wintry blasts assail, 

Together pine, together die. 

But two capricious human hearts — 
No sage's rod may track their ways, 



* [ St. Luke is said to have been born at Antioch. He was a physician ; 
and after his conversion, accompanied St. Paul. He wrote a Gospel, and the 
Acts of the Apostles. ] 

2 D 



354 St. Luke. 

No eye pursue their lawless starts 
Along their wild self-chosen maze. 

He only, by whose sovereign hand 
Even sinners for the evil day* 

Were made — who rules the world he plann' 
Turning our worst his own good way ; 

i 

» 

He only can the cause reveal, 

Why, at the same fond bosom fed. 

Taught in the self-same lap to kneel 
Till the same prayer were duly said, 

Brothers in blood and nurture too, 
Aliens in heart so oft should prove ; 

One lose, the other keep, Heaven's clue: 
One dwell in wrath, and one in love. 

He only knows, — for He can read 
The mystery of the wicked heart, — 

Why vainly oft our arrows speed 
"When aim'd with most unerring art: 

While from some rude and powerless arm 
A random shaft in season sent 

Shall light upon some lurking harm, 
And work some wonder little meant. 



* Proverbs xvi. 4. The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even 
the wicked for the day of evil. 



St. Luke. 355 

Doubt we, how souls so wanton change, 
Leaving their own experienc'd rest? 

Needs not around the world to range ; 
One narrow cell may teach us best. 

Look in, and see Christ's chosen saint 
In triumph wear his Christ-like chain ; 

No fear lest he should swerve or faint ; 
" His life is Christ, his death is gain."* 

Two converts, watching by his side, 

Alike his love and greetings share ; 
Luke the belov'd, the sick soul's guide, 

And Demas, nam'd in faltering prayer. 

Pass a few years — look in once more — 

The saint is in his bonds again ; 
Save that his hopes more boldly soar,t 

He and his lot unchang'd remain. 

But only Luke is with him now : — 

Alas ! that even the martyr's cell, 
Heaven's very gate, should scope allow 

For the false world's seducing spell, 



* Philip, i. 2L 

f In the Epistle to the Philippians, " I know that I shall abide and con- 
tinue with you all : — I count not myself to have apprehended," i. 25. iii. 13. 
In 2 Tim., " I have finished my course," &c. iv. 7, 8. 



356 St Luke. 

'Tis sad — but yet 'tis well, be sure, 
We on the sight should muse awhile, 

Nor deem our shelter all secure 
Even in the Church's holiest aisle. 

Vainly before the shrine he bends, 

Who knows not the true pilgrim's part : 

The martyr's cell no safety lends 

To him, who wants the martyr's heart. 

But if there be, who follows Paul 
As Paul his Lord, in life and death, 

Where'er an aching heart may call, 
Keady to speed and take no breath ; 

Whose joy is, to the wandering sheep 
To tell of the great Shepherd's love ;* 

To learn of mourners while they weep 
The music that makes mirth above ; 

Who makes the Saviour all his theme, 
The Gospel all his pride and praise — 

Approach : for thou canst feel the gleam 
That round the martyr's death-bed plays 

Thou hast an ear for angels' songs, 
A breath the Gospel trump to fill, 



* The Gospel of St. Luke abounds most in such passages as the parable 
of the lost sheep ; such as display God's mercy to penitent sinners. 



St. Luke. 357 

And taught by thee the Church prolongs 
Her hymns of high thanksgiving still.* 

Ah ! dearest mother, since too oft 

The world yet wins some Demas frail 

Even from thine arms, so kind and soft, 
May thy tried comforts never fail ! 

When faithless ones forsake thy wing, 

Be it vouchsaf 'd thee still to see 
Thy true, fond nurslings closer cling, 

Cling closer to their Lord and thee. 

* The Christian hyras are all in St. Luke : the Magnificat, Benedictus, and 
Nunc Dimittis. 



2 d 2 



%& Stmou antr St. 3>utre-* 

[October 28.] 

That ye should earnestly contend forf the faith which was once delivered 
unto the saints. St. Jude 3. [Epistle for the day.] 



[O Almighty God, who hast built thy Church upon the founda- 
tion of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the 
head corner-stone ; grant us so to be joined together in unity of 
spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made a holy temple ac- 
ceptable unto thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'] 

SEEST thou, how tearful and alone, 

And drooping like a wounded dove, 
The Cross in sight, but Jesus gone, 

The widow'd Church is fain to rove? 



* [ These were both Apostles. Simon is also called Zelotes, and the Ca- 
naanite, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. Jude, called also Lebbeus and 
Thaddeus, was the brother of James the less, and author of the Epistle 
which bears his name. There is a tradition that they laboured and suffered 
martyrdom together. ] 

f iTrayeevi^iO-Bcti : — " be very anxious for it :" " feel for it as for a friend 
in jeopardy." 



St. Simon and St. Jude. 359 

Who is at hand that loves the Lord?* 
Make haste, and take her home, and bring 

Thine household choir, in true accord 
Their soothing hymns for her to sing. 

Soft on her fluttering heart shall breathe 

The fragrance of that genial isle, 
There she may weave her funeral wreath, 

And to her own sad music smile. 

The Spirit of the dying Son 

Is there, and fills the holy place 
With records sweet of duties done, 

Of pardon'd foes, and cherish'd grace. 

And as of old by two and twof 

His herald saints the Saviour sent 
To soften hearts like morning dew, 

Where He to shine in mercy meant ; 

So evermore He deems his name 

Best honour' d and his way prepar'd, 
When watching by his altar-flame 

He sees his servants duly pair'd. 

He loves when age and youth are met, 
Fervent old age and youth serene, 

* St. John xix. 27. Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother: 
and from that hour that disciple took her to his own home, 
t St. Mark vi. 7. St. Luke x. 1. 



360 St. Simon and St. Jude. 

Their high and low in concord set 
For sacred song, Joy's golden mean. 

He loves when some clear soaring mind 

Is drawn by mutual piety 
To simple souls and unrefin'd, 

Who in life's shadiest covert lie. 

Or if perchance a sadden'd heart 

That once was gay and felt the spring, 

Cons slowly o'er its alter'd part, 
In sorrow and remorse to sing, 

Thy gracious care will send that way 

Some spirit full of glee, yet taught 
To bear the sight of dull decay, 

And nurse it with all pitying thought; 

Cheerful as soaring lark, and mild* 
As evening blackbird's full-ton'd lay, 

* [ " Upon such a field one has the best chance of hearing the matin song 
of the year. While the morning is yet cold there are but a few complaining 
chirps, and the birds chiefly appear in short flights, which have much the 
appearance of leaps under the hedges. As the morning gets warm, however, 
a few are found running along the furrows, and one brown fellow, perched 
on a clod, partially erecting a crest of feathers, and looking around him with 
a mingled air of complacency and confidence, utters a •' chur-ree " in an 
under tone, as if he were trying the lowest and the highest notes of an in- 
strument. The notes are restrained, but they have enough of music in them 
to cause you to wish for a repetition. That, however does not in general 
come ; but instead of it there is a single " churr" murmured from a distance, 
and so soft as hardly to be audible 5 and the bird that was stationed upon the 



St. Simon and St. Jude. 361 

When the relenting sun has smil'd 

Bright through a whole December day. 

These are the tones to brace and cheer 

The lonelv watcher of the fold, 
When nights are dark, and foemen near, 

When visions fade and hearts grow cold. 

How timely then a comrade's song 

Comes floating on the mountain air, 
And bids thee yet be bold and strong — 

Fancy may die, but Faith is there. 

clod has vanished, nor can you for some time find out what has become of 
him. His flight is at first upward, and bears some resemblance to the smoke 
of a fire on a calm day, gradually expanding into a spiral as it rises above 
the surface. But no sooner has he gained the proper elevation, than down 
showers his song, filling the whole air with the most cheerful melody ; 
and you feel more gay, more glee and lifting up of the heart, than when any 
other music meets your ear. The opening of the day and of the year come 
fresh to your fancy, as you instinctively repeat — 

' Hark, the lark at heaven's gate sings.' 
The Lark indeed is the signal both for the season and the day. The very first 
sun of the young year calls up the lark to pour his song from the sky. Nor 
can any thing be more in harmony with the situation in which we find it, 
than the song of the lark. The bird is the very emblem of freedom ; float- 
ing in the thin air, with spreading tail, and outstretched wings, and moving its 
little head delightedly, first to the one side, and then to the other, as if it would 
communicate its joy around, it at last soars to such an elevation, that if vis- 
ible at all, it is a mere dark speck in the blue vault of heaven, and carolling 
over the young year or the young day, while all is bustle and activity, the 
airy wildness of the song makes its whole character more peculiar and 
striking." Mudie's British Naturalist, ii. pp. 110 to 114. ] 






^U Saints' 3Bag;* 

[November 1.] 



Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the 
servants of our God in their foreheads. Revelations vii. 3. 



[O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one 
communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ 
our Lord ; grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all 
virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeak- 
able joys, which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love 
thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] 

WHY blow'st thou not, thou wintry wind, 

Now every leaf is brown and sere, 
And idly droops, to thee resign'd, 

The fading chaplet of the year ? 
Yet wears the pure aerial sky 
Her summer veil, half drawn on high, 
Of silvery haze, and dark and still 
The shadows sleep on every slanting hill. 



* [ This festival is appointed for the commemoration of all those saints 
and martyrs to whom no particular day is assigned. ] 



All Saints' Day. 363 

How quiet shows the woodland scene ! 

Each flower and tree, its duty done, 
Reposing in decay serene, 

Like weary men when age is won, 
Such calm old age as conscience pure 
And self-commanding hearts ensure, 
Waiting their summons to the sky, 
Content to live, but not afraid to die. 

Sure if our eyes were purg'd to trace 

God's unseen armies hovering round, 
We should behold by angels' grace 

The four strong winds of Heaven fast bound, 
Their downward sweep a moment staid 
On ocean cove and forest glade, 
Till the last flower of autumn shed 
Her funeral odours on her dying bed. 

So in thine awful armoury, Lord, 

The lightnings of the judgment day 
Pause yet awhile, in mercy stor'd, 

Till willing hearts wear quite away 
Their earthly stains ; and spotless shine 
On every brow in light divine 
The Cross by angel hands impress'd, 
The seal of glory won and pledge of promis'd rest. 

Little they dream, those haughty souls 
Whom empires own with bended knee. 



364 All Saints' Day, 

What lowly fate their own controls, 

Together link'd by Heaven's decree ; — 
As bloodhounds hush their baying wild 
To wanton with some fearless child, 
So Famine waits, and War with greedy eyes, 
Till some repenting heart be ready for the skies. 

Think ye the spires that glow so bright 

In front of yonder setting sun, 
Stand by their own unshaken might ? 

No — where th' upholding grace is won, 
We dare not ask, nor Heaven would tell, 
But sure from many a hidden dell, 
From many a rural nook unthought of there, 
Rises for that proud world the saints' prevailing prayer. 

On, champions blest, in Jesus' name, 
Short be your strife, your triumph full, 

Till every heart have caught your flame, 
And lighten' d of the world's misrule 

Ye soar those elder saints to meet, 

Gather'd long since at Jesus' feet, 

No world of passions to destroy, 
Your prayers and struggles o'er, your task all praise and 

joy. 






O GOD of Mercy, God of Might, 
How should pale sinners bear the sight, 
If, as Thy power is surely here, 
Thine open glory should appear ? 

For now Thy people are allow'd 
To scale the mount and pierce the cloud, 
And Faith may feed her eager view 
With wonders Sinai never knew. 

Fresh from th' atoning sacrifice 
The world's Creator bleeding lies, 
That man, his foe, by whom He bled, 
May take Him for his daily bread. 

O agony of wavering thought 

When sinners first so near are brought ! 

46 It is my Maker — dare I stay ? 

" My Saviour — dare I turn away?"* 



* [ See the exhortations to the Communion, in the book of Common Prayer. 
It would seem that no Christian, who in humility and sincerity reads the 

2 E 



366 Holy Communion. 

Thus while the storm is high within 
'Twixt love of Christ and fear of sin, 
Who can express the soothing charm, 
To feel thy kind upholding arm, 

My mother Church ? and hear thee tell 
Of a world lost, yet lov'd so well, 
That He, by whom the angels live, 
His only Son for her would give.* 

And doubt we yet ? thou call'st again ; 
A lower still, a sweeter strain; 
A voice from Mercy's inmost shrine, 
The very breath of Love divine. 

Whispering it says to each apart, 
" Come unto me, thou trembling heart ;"t 
And we must hope, so sweet the tone, 
The precious words are all our own. 

Hear them, kind Saviour — hear thy spouse 
Low at thy feet renew her vows ; 
Thine own dear promise she would plead 
For us her true though fallen seed. 



Scripture passages on this subject, and the commentary there given, could 
doubt as to God's will, or his own duty. ] 

* " God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son." See 
the sentences in the Communion Service, after the Confession. 

t Come unto me, all ye that travail, and are heavy laden, and I will re- 
fresh you. 



Holy Communion. 367 

She pleads by all thy mercies, told 
Thy chosen witnesses of old, 
Love's heralds sent to man forgiven, 
One from the Cross, and one from heaven.* 

This, of true Penitents the chief, 
To the lost spirit brings relief, 
Lifting on high th' adored name : — 
" Sinners to save, Christ Jesus came."t 

That, dearest of thy bosom Friends, 
Into the wavering heart descends : — 
"What? fall'n again? yet cheerful rise4 
" Thine Intercessor never dies." 

The eye of Faith, that waxes bright 
Each moment by thine altar's light, 
Sees them e'en now : they still abide 
In mystery kneeling at our side ; 

And with them every spirit blest, 
From realms of triumph or of rest, 
From Him who saw creation's morn, 
Of all thine angels eldest born, 



* St. Paul and St. John. 

•f This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all men to be received, That 
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 

% If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
righteous. 



368 Holy Communion. 

To the poor babe, who died to-day, 
Take part in our thanksgiving lay,* 
Watching the tearful joy and calm, 
While sinners taste thine heavenly balm. 

Sweet awful hour ! the only sound 
One gentle footstep gliding round, 
Offering by turns on Jesus' part 
The Cross to every hand and heart. 

Refresh us, Lord, to hold it fast ; 
And when thy veil is drawn at last, 
Let us depart where shadows cease, 
With words of blessing and of peace. 

* [ The Communion of Saints. There is an admirable sermon on this 
subject, by the Rev. Charles Forster, the Chaplain, companion and bosom 
friend of the late inestimable Bishop of Limerick, Dr. Jebb, to whose memory 
it is dedicated. It was printed, but not published. ] 



WHERE is it, mothers learn their love \- 
In every Church a fountain springs 
O'er which th' eternal Dove 
Hovers on softest wings. 

What sparkles in that lucid flood 
Is water, by gross mortals ey'd : 
But seen by Faith, 'tis blood 
Out of a dear Friend's side. 

A few calm words of faith and prayer, 
A few bright drops of holy dew, 
Shall work a wonder there 
Earth's charmers never knew. 

happy arms, where cradled lies, 
And ready for the Lord's embrace, 



* [ There is a soothing sacred beauty in these lines, peculiar and inde- 
scribable. The strain they breathe comes sweetly and softly on the soul, like 
a sleeping infant's breath. We are mistaken if they do not make all Chris- 
tian mothers in love with Keble's poetry. ] 

2 e 2 



L _ 



370 Holy Baptism. 

That precious sacrifice, 
The darling of his grace ! 

Blest eyes, that see the smiling gleam 
Upon the slumbering features glow, 
When the life-giving stream 
Touches the tender brow ! 

Or when the holy cross is sign'd, 
And the young soldier duly sworn 
With true and fearless mind 
To serve the Virgin-born. 

But happiest ye, who seal'd and blest 
Back to your arms your treasure take* 
With Jesus' mark impress'd 
To nurse for Jesus' sake : 

To whom — as if in hallow' d air 

Ye knelt before some awful shrine — 
His innocent gestures wear 
A meaning half divine : 

By whom Love's daily touch is seen 

In strengthening form and freshening hue, 
In the fix'd brow serene, 
The deep yet eager view.— 

Who taught thy pure and even breath 
To come and go with such sweet grace ? 



Holy Baptism. 371 

Whence thy reposing Faith, 
Though in our frail embrace ? 

O tender gem, and full of heaven ! 
Not in the twilight stars on high, 
Not in moist flowers at even 
See we our God so nigh. 

Sweet one, make haste and know Him too, 
Thine own adopting Father love, 
That like thine earliest dew 
Thy dying sweets may prove. 



(EatecJttsm-* 



OH say not, dream not, heavenly notes 
To childish ears are vain, 

That the young mind at random floats, 
And cannot reach the strain. 

Dim or unheard, the words may fall, 
And yet the heaven-taught mind 



* [ From the Font our poet passes to the Catechism. We would that he 
might take all Christian parents and sponsors with him. ] 



372 Catechism. 

May learn the sacred air, and all 
The harmony unwind.* 

Was not our Lord a little child,t 
Taught by degrees to pray, 

By father dear and mother mild 
Instructed day by day ? 

And lov'd He not of Heaven to talk 
With children in His sight, 

To meet them in his daily walk, 
And to his arms invite ? 

What though around His throne of fire 

The everlasting chant 
Be wafted from the seraph choir 

In glory jubilant? 

Yet stoops He, ever pleas'd to mark 
Our rude essays of love, 



* [ The common but groundless objection, that children cannot understand 
the Catechism, is beautifully and effectually answered in these lines. It ap- 
plies with equal force to the several branches of human learning. In grammar, 
in mathematics, in philosophy, the child learns much that he does not fully 
comprehend. But it is stored in his memory, and as his intellectual powers 
are developed, he understands its meaning. So it must be with the Scrip- 
tures, as well as with the Catechism. ] 

t [ " And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was sub- 
ject unto them; and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus 
increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." Luke 
ii. 51, 52. ] 



Catechism. 373 

Faint as the pipe of wakening lark, 
Heard by some twilight grove : 

Yet is He near us, to survey 

These bright and order'd files, 
Like spring-flowers in their best array, 

All silence and all smiles. 

Save that each little voice in turn 

Some glorious truth proclaims, — 

What sages would have died to learn, 
Now taught by cottage dames.* 

And if some tones be false or low, 

What are all prayers beneath 
But cries of babes, that cannot know 

Half the deep thought they breathe? 

In his own words we Christ adore, 

> 

But angels, as we speak, 
Higher above our meaning soar 
Than we o'er children weak : 

And yet His words mean more than they, 

And yet He owns their praise : 
Why should we think, He turns away 

From infants' simple lays 1 

* [ Truths are made familiarto children in the Sunday school which Plato 
and Cicero longed to ascertain. Yea, 

" Prophets and kings desired to know, 
And died without the sight." ] 



THE shadow of th' Almighty's cloud 

Calm on the tents of Israel lay, 
While drooping paus'd twelve banners proud, 

Till He arise and lead the way. 

Then to the desert breeze unroll'd 
Cheerly the waving pennons fly, 

* [ " It is certainly not a sacrament, but I know it is a means of grace, 
and I trust and believe, generally speaking, an efficacious means. And how 
simple the rite itself is ; and how very natural in both its parts ! 

" How natural it seems, that those to whom a gracious God has given life, 
and health, and happiness, and beauty, should, as soon as they are old enough 
to look round on the fair creation, amidst which they are placed as the fairest, 
desire of themselves, to place themselves under the care of its beneficent God. 
Yet, alas ! there I mistake my ground ; that was man's natural condition once, 
when "God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good," 
but the case is entirely altered now ; yet it is meet and right, that, if having 
been afar off", they have been brought near by the blood of Christ, sprinkled 
with the waters of baptism, and taken, when unconscious of the privilege, into 
covenant with the most high God — it is natural, that if they have any feeling, 
any gratitude, they should desire to renew the vow, and enter into the cove- 
nant for themselves. And how simply beautiful our service is — how free from 
superstitious pomp, and unmeaning ceremony on the one hand — and on the 
other, how impressive, how solemn ; how all things are done decently and in 
order !" 

Scenes in our Parish, by " a Country Parson's Daughter." ] 



Confirmation. 375 

Lion or eagle — each bright fold 
A loadstar to a warrior's eye. 

So should thy champions, ere the strife, 
By holy hands o'er-shadow'd kneel, 

So fearless for their charmed life, 
Bear, to the end, thy Spirit's seal. 

Steady and pure as stars that beam 

In middle heaven, all mist above, 
Seen deepest in the frozen stream : — 

Such is their high courageous love. 

And soft as pure, and warm as bright, 
They brood upon life's peaceful hour, 

As if the Dove that guides their flight 
Shook from her plumes a downy shower. 

Spirit of might and sweetness too ! 

Now leading on the wars of God, 
Now to green isles of shade and dew 

Turning the waste thy people trod ; 

Draw, Holy Ghost, thy seven-fold veil 
Between us and the fires of youth ; 

Breathe, Holy Ghost, thy freshening gale, 
Our fever'd brow in age to soothe. 

And oft as sin and sorrow tire, 

The hallow'd hour do Thou renew. 



376 Confirmation. 

When beckon' d up the awful choir 

By pastoral hands, toward Thee we drew ; 

When trembling at the sacred rail 
We hid our eyes and held our breath, 

Felt Thee how strong, our hearts how frail, 
And long'd to own Thee to the death. 

For ever on our souls be trac'd 

That blessing dear, that dove-like hand, 

A sheltering rock in Memory's waste, 
O'ershadowing all the weary land. 



f&atrfmong* 



THERE is an awe in mortals' j oy, 

A deep mysterious fear 
Half of the heart will still employ, 

As if we drew too near 
To Eden's portal, and those fires 
That bicker round in wavy spires, 
Forbidding, to our frail desires, 

What cost us once so dear. 

We cower before th' heart-searching eye 
In rapture as in pain ; 



d 



Matrimony. 377 

Even wedded Love, till Thou be nigh, 

Dares not believe her gain : 
Then in the air she fearless springs, 
The breath of Heaven beneath her wings, 
And leaves her woodnote wild, and sings 

A tun'd and measur'd strain. 

Ill fare the lay, though soft as dew 

And free as air it fall, 
That, with thine altar full in view, 

Thy votaries would enthrall 
To a foul dream, of heathen night, 
Lifting her torch in Love's despite, 
And scaring with base wildfire light 

The sacred nuptial hall. 

Far other strains, far other fires, 

Our marriage offering grace ; 
Welcome, all chaste and kind desires, 

With even matron pace 
Approaching down the hallow'd aisle ! 
Where should ye seek Love's perfect smile, 
But where your prayers were learn'd erewhile, 

In her own native place ?* 

Where, but on His benignest brow, 
Who waits to bless you here ? 

* [ Marriage should always be performed in the church. There is a de- 
parture in this respect from her provisions, and from Christian propriety, 
much to be regretted. ] 
2 F 



378 Matrimony. 

Living, He own'd no nuptial vow, 

No bower to Fancy dear : 
Love's very self — for Him no need 
To nurse, on earth, the heavenly seed : 
Yet comfort in His eye we read 

For bridal joy and fear. 

'Tis He who clasps the marriage band, 

And fits the spousal ring, 
Then leaves ye kneeling, hand in hand, 

Out of His stores to bring 
His Father's dearest blessing, shed 
Of old on Isaac's nuptial bed, 
Now on the board before ye spread 

Of our all-bounteous King. 

All blessings of the breast and womb, 
Of heaven and earth beneath, 

Of converse high, and sacred home, 
Are yours, in life and death. 

Only kneel on, nor turn away 

From the pure shrine, where Christ to-day 

Will store each flower, ye duteous lay, 
For an eternal wreath. 



Winitation antr ^ommunton of tfie Stctt- 



YOUTH and Joy, your airy tread 
Too lightly springs by Sorrow's bed, 
Your keen eyeglances are too bright, 
Too restless for a sick man's sight. 
Farewell : for one short life we part : 

1 rather woo the soothing art, 
Which only souls in sufferings tried 
Bear to their suffering brethren's side. 

Where may we learn that gentle spell ? 
Mother of Martyrs, thou canst tell ! 
Thou, who didst watch thy dying Spouse 
With pierced hands and bleeding brows, 
Whose tears from age to age are shed 
O'er sainted sons untimely dead, 
If e'er we charm a soul in pain, 
Thine is the key-note of our strain. 

How sweet with thee to lift the latch, 
Where Faith has kept her midnight watch, 
Smiling on woe : with thee to kneel, 
Where flx'd, as if one prayer could heal, 



380 Visitation and Communion of the Sick. 

She listens, till her pale eye glow 
With joy, wild health can never kno\$j, 
And each calm feature, ere we read, 
Speaks, silently, thy glorious Creed. 

Such have I seen : and while they pour'd 
Their hearts in every contrite word, 
How have I rather loner' d to kneel 
And ask of them sweet pardon's seal ! 
How bless'd the heavenly music brought 
By thee to aid my faltering thought ! 
" Peace" ere we kneel, and when we cease 
To pray, the farewell word is, "Peace."* 

I came again: the place was bright 
" With something of celestial light" — 
A simple altar by the bed 
For high Communion meetly spread, 
Chalice, and plate, and snowy vest. — 
We ate and drank : then calmly blest, 
All mourners, one with dying breath, 
We sate and talk'd of Jesus' death. 

Once more I came : the silent room 
Was veil'd in sadly-soothing gloom, 
And ready for her last abode 
The pale form like a lily show'd, 

* [ At his entrance, the minister says, " Peace be to this house, and to 
all that dwell in it." The blessing, at the close, concludes with these words, 
" The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace both now 
and evermore." ] 



Visitation and Communion of the Sick. 381 

By virgin fingers duly spread, 
And priz'd for love of summer fled. 
The light from those soft-smiling eyes 
Had fleeted to its parent skies. 

O soothe us, haunt us, night and day, 
Ye gentle Spirits far away, 
With whom we shar'd the cup of grace, 
Then parted ; ye to Christ's embrace, 
We to the lonesome world again, 
Yet mindful of th' unearthly strain 
Practis'd with you at Eden's door, 
To be sung on, where angels soar, 
With blended voices evermore. 



MuvM of tU Heafr* 



And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said unto 
her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier (and they that bare him 
stood still) and He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. St. Luke vii, 
13, 14. 

WHO says, the wan autumnal sun 

Beams with too faint a smile 
To light up nature's face again, 
And, though the year be on the wane, 

With thoughts of spring the heart beguile ? 
2 f 2 



382 Burial of the Dead. 

Waft him, thou soft September breeze, 

And gently lay him down 
Within some circling woodland wall, 
Where bright leaves, reddening ere they fall, 

Wave gaily o'er the waters brown. 

And let some graceful arch be there 

With wreathed mullions proud, 
With burnish' d ivy for its screen, 
And moss, that glows as fresh and green 

As though beneath an April cloud. — 

Who says the widow's heart must break, 

The childless mother sink ? — 
A kinder truer voice I hear, 
Which even beside that mournful bier 

Whence parents' eyes would hopeless shrink, 

Bids weep no more — O heart bereft, 
How strange, to thee, that sound ! 

A widow o'er her only son, 

Feeling more bitterly alone 

For friends that press officious round. 

Yet is the voice of comfort heard, 

For Christ hath touch'd the bier — 
The bearers wait with wondering eye, 
The swelling bosom dares not sigh, 
But all is still, 'twixt hope and fear. 



Burial of the Dead. 383 

Even such an awful soothing calm 

We sometimes see alight 
On Christian mourners, while they wait 
In silence, by some church-yard gate, 

Their summons to the holy rite. 

And such the tones of love, which break 

The stillness of that hour, 
Quelling th' embitter'd spirit's strife — 
" The Resurrection and the Life 

" Am I : believe, and die no more." 

Unchang'd that voice — and though not yet 

The dead sit up and speak, 
Answering its call ; we gladlier rest 
Our darlings on earth's quiet breast, 

And our hearts feel they must not break. 

Far better they should sleep awhile 

Within the church's shade, 
Nor wake, until new heaven, new earth, 
Meet for their new immortal birth, 

For their abiding place be made, 

Than wander back to life, and lean 

On our frail love once more. 
'Tis sweet, as year by year we lose 
Friends out of sight, in faith to muse 

How grows in Paradise our store. 



^' 



384 Burial of the Dead. 

Then pass, ye mourners, cheerly on, 

Through prayer unto the tomb, 
Still, as ye watch life's falling leaf, 
Gathering from every loss and grief 
Hope of new spring and endless home. 

Then cheerly to your work again 
With hearts new-brac'd and set 
To run, untir'd, love's blessed race, 
As meet for those, who face to face 
Over the grave their Lord have met. 



®littrdittis of WStmtxiJ 



IS there, in bowers of endless spring, 

One known from all the seraph band 
By softer voice, by smile and wing 
More exquisitely bland ! 
Here let him speed : to-day this hallow'd air 
Is fragrant with a mother's first and fondest prayer. 

Only let Heaven her fire impart, 

No richer incense breathes on earth : 

* [ Why is it that this beautiful and most affecting rite is so little 
observed? Ought not the appropriate thanksgiving, at least, be offered, in 
acknowledgement of God's great mercy, by every mother ? ] 



! 



Churching of Women. 385 

" A spouse with all a daughter's heart," 
Fresh from the perilous birth, 
To the great Father lifts her pale glad eye, 
Like a reviving flower when storms are hush'd on high. 

O what a treasure of sweet thought 

Is here ! what hope and joy and love 
All in one tender bosom brought, 
For the all-gracious Dove 
To brood o'er silently, and form for heaven 
Each passionate wish and dream to dear affection given. 

Her fluttering heart, too keenly blest, 

Would sicken, but she leans on Thee, 
Sees Thee by faith on Mary's breast, 
And breathes serene and free. 
Slight tremblings only of her veil declare* 
Soft answers duly whisper'd to each soothing prayer. 

We are too weak, when Thou dost bless, 

To bear the joy — help, Virgin-born ! 
By thine own mother's first caress, 
That wak'd thy natal morn ! 
Help, by the unexpressive smile, that made 
A heaven on earth around the couch where Thou wast 
laid! 

* When the woman comes to this office 3 the rubric (as it was altered at 
the last review) directs that she be decently apparelled, i. e. as the custom 
and order was formerly, with a white covering or veil, Wheatley on the 
Common Prayer, c. xiii. sect. i. 3. 






Comwtnatfon.* 

THE prayers are o'er: why slumberest thou so 
long, 
Thou voice of sacred song? 
Why swell'st thou not, like breeze from mountain 
, cave, 
High o'er the echoing nave, 
The white-rob'd priest, as otherwhile, to guide, 
Up to the altar's northern side?— 
A mourner's tale of shame and sad decay 
Keeps back our glorious sacrifice to-day : 

The widow'd Spouse of Christ: with ashes 
crown'd, 
Her Christmas robes unbound, 
She lingers in the porch for grief and fear, 

Keeping her penance drear. — 
O is it nought to you ? that idly gay, 
Or coldly proud, ye turn away ? 

* [ " A Commination, or denouncing of God's anger and judgments against 
sinners, with certain prayers, to be used on the first day of Lent, and at other 
times, as the ordinary shall appoint." This service is not retained in the 
Liturgy of the American Church. ] 



Commination. 387 

But if her warning tears in vain be spent, 
Lo, to her alter'd eye the Law's stern fires are lent. 

Each awful curse, that on Mount Ebal rang. 

Peals with a direr clang 
Out of that silver trump, whose tones of old 

Forgiveness only told. 
And who can blame the mother's fond affright,* 
Who sporting on some giddy height 
Her infant sees, and springs with hurried hand 
To snatch the rover from the dangerous strand ? 

But surer than all words the silent spell 

(So Grecian legends tell) 
When to her bird, too early scap'd the nest, 

She bares her tender breast. 
Smiling he turns and spreads his little wing, 
There to glide home, there safely cling. 
So yearns our mother o'er each truant son, 
So softly falls the lay in fear and wrath begun. 



* Alluding to a beautiful anecdote in the Greek Anthology, torn. i. 180, ed. 
Jacobs. See Pleasures of Memory, p. 133. 

[ "While on the cliff with calm delight she kneels, 

And the blue vales a thousand joys recall, 
See, to the last, last verge her infant steals ! 

O fly — yet stir not, speak not, lest it fall. 
Far better taught, she lays her bosom bare, 
And the fond boy springs back to nestle there !" 

Rogers, from a Greek Epigram. ] 



388 Commination. 

Wayward and spoil'd she knows ye: the keen 
blast, 
That brac'd her youth, is past: 
The rod of discipline, the robe of shame — 

She bears them in your name : 
Only return and love. But ye perchance 
Are deeper plung'd in sorrow's trance : 
Your God forgives, but ye no comfort take 
Till ye have scourg'd the sins that in your conscience 
ache. 

O heavy laden soul ! kneel down and hear 

Thy penance in calm fear : 
With thine own lips to sentence all thy sin ; 

Then, by the judge within 
Absolv'd, in thankful sacrifice to part 
For ever with thy sullen heart, 
Nor on remorseful thoughts to brood, and stain 
The glory of the Cross, forgiven and cheer'd in vain. 



iPorms t»e Prager to fce ttsetr at Sea< 



When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. 

Isaiah xliii. 2, 

THE shower of moonlight falls as still and clear 

Upon the desert main, 
As where sweet flowers some pastoral garden cheer 

With fragrance after rain : 
The wild winds rustle in the piping shrouds, 

As in the quivering trees : 
Like summer fields, beneath the shadowy clouds 
The yielding waters darken in the breeze. 

Thou too art here with thy soft inland tones, 

Mother of our new birth ;* 
The lonely ocean learns thy orisons, 

And loves thy sacred mirth : 
When storms are high, or when the fires of war 

Come lightening round our course, 
Thou breath'st a note like music from afar, 

Tempering rude hearts with calm angelic force. 



* [ The Church. ] 
2 G 



390 Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea. 

Far, far away, the homesick seaman's hoard, 

Thy fragrant tokens live, 
Like flower-leaves in a precious volume stor'd, 

To solace and relieve 
Some heart too weary of the restless world ; 

Or like thy sabbath Cross,* 
That o'er the brightening billow streams unfurl'd, 
Whatever gale the labouring vessel toss. 

O kindly soothing in high Victory's hour, 

Or when a comrade dies, 
In whose sweet presence sorrow dares not lower, 

Nor Expectation rise 
Too high for earth ; what mother's heart could spare 

To the cold cheerless deep 
Her flower and hope ? but thou art with him there, 

Pledge of the untir'd arm and eye that cannot sleep : 

The eye that watches o'er wild Ocean's dead, 

Each in his coral cave, 
Fondly as if the green turf wrapt his head 

Fast by his father's grave. — 
Our moment, and the seeds of life shall spring 

Out of the waste abyss, 
And happy warriors triumph with their King 

In worlds without a sea,t unchanging orbs of bliss. 

* [ The allusion is to the British flag, bearing a Cross, which is always 
displayed on Sundays. ] 
| And there was no more sea. Rev. xxi. 1. 






gSrttttpototrrr treason.* 

[November 5.] 

As thou hast testified of me at Jerusalem, so must thou also bear witness at 
Rome. Acts xxiii. 11. 

BENEATH the burning eastern sky 

The Cross was rais'd at morn : 
The widow'd Church to weep stood by, 

The world, to hate and scorn. 

Now, journeying westward, evermore 

We know the lonely Spouse 
By the dear mark her Saviour bore 

Trac'd on her patient brows. 

At Rome she wears it, as of old 

Upon th' accursed hill : 
By monarchs clad in gems and gold, 

She goes a mourner still. 



* [ The 5th of November is kept as a holiday by the Church of England 
in commemoration of the wonderful preservation vouchsafed to her on that 
day, in the year 1605, by the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot. ] 



392 Gunpowder Treason. 

She mourns that tender hearts should bend 

Before a meaner shrine, 
And upon Saint or Angel spend 

The love that should be thine. 

By day and night her sorrows fall 
Where miscreant hands and rude 

Have stain'd her pure ethereal pall 
With many a maityr's blood. 

And yearns not her parental heart, 
To hear their secret sighs, 

Upon whose doubting way apart 
Bewildering shadows rise ? 

Who to her side in peace would cling, 

But fear to wake, and find 
What they had deem'd her genial wing 

Was Error's soothing blind. 

She treasures up each throbbing prayer : 
Come, trembler, come and pour 

Into her bosom all thy care, 
For she has balm in store. 

Her gentle teaching sweetly blends 
With the clear light of Truth 

The' aerial gleam that Fancy lends 
To solemn thoughts in youth,— 



Gunpowder Treason. 393 

If thou hast lov'd, in hours of gloom, 

To dream the dead are near, 
And people all the lonely room 

With guardian spirits dear, 

Dream on the soothing dream at will : 

The lurid mist is o'er, 
That show'd the righteous suffering still 

Upon th' eternal shore. 

If with thy heart the strains accord, 

That on His altar-throne 
Highest exalt thy glorious Lord, 

Yet leave Him most thine own; 

O come to our Communion Feast: 

There present in the heart, 
Not in the hands, th' eternal Priest 

Will his true self impart. — 

Thus, should thy soul misgiving turn 

Back to th' enchanted air, 
Solace and warning thou mayst learn 

From all that tempts thee there. 

And ! by all the pangs and fears 

Fraternal spirits know, 
When for an elder's shame the tears 
Of wakeful anguish flow, 
2 g2 



!' 



394 Gunpowder Treason. 

Speak gently of our sister's fall : 
Who knows but gentle love 

May win her at our patient call 
The surer way to prove ?* 



Ittng Gthuvlw the -pvwtgr.t 

[January 30.] 

This is thankworthy, if a man for conscience towards God endure grief, 
suffering wrongfully. 1 St. Peter ii. 19. 

PRAISE to our pardoning God ! though silent now 
The thunders of the deep prophetic sky, 

Though in our sight no powers of darkness bow 
Before th' Apostles' glorious company ; 

The Martyrs' noble army still is ours, 

Far in the North our fallen days have seen 



* [ Would that there were more to join in this, as truly wise as it is truly 
pious, sentiment ! What have Christian men to do with calling down fire from 
heaven ? When was conversion ever effected by compulsion ? Or what was 
it worth when effected ? " A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous 
words stir up anger." ] 

t [ The anniversary of the beheading of King Charles I., in 1649, com- 
memorated in the calendar of the Church of England. ] 



King Charles the Martyr. 395 

How in her woe the tenderest spirit towers, 
For Jesus' sake in agony serene. 

Praise to our God ! not cottage hearths alone, 

And shades impervious to the proud world's glare, 

Such witness yield : a monarch from his throne 
Springs to his Cross and finds his glory there. 

Yes : wheresoe'er one trace of thee is found, 
As in the Sacred Land, the shadows fall : 

With beating hearts we roam the haunted ground, 
Lone battle field, or crumbling prison hall. 

And there are aching solitary breasts, 

Whose widow'd walk with thought of thee is cheer'd, 
Our own, our royal Saint : thy memory rests 

On many a prayer, the more for thee endear'd. 

True son of our dear Mother, early taught 
With her to worship and for her to die, 

Nurs'd in her aisles to more than kingly thought, 
Oft in her solemn hours we dream thee nigh. 

For thou didst love to trace her daily lore, 
And where we look for comfort or for calm, 

Over the self-same lines to bend, and pour 
Thy heart with hers in some victorious psalm. 

And well did she thy loyal love repay ; 

When all forsook, her Angels still were nigh, 



396 King Charles the Martyr. 

Chain' d and bereft, and on thy funeral way, 
Straight to the Cross she turn'd thy dying eye,* 

And yearly now, before the Martyrs' King, 

For thee she offers her maternal tears, 
Calls us, like thee, to His dear feet to cling, 

And bury in His wounds our earthly fears. 

The Angels hear, and there is mirth in Heaven, 
Fit prelude of the joy, when spirits won 

Like thee to patient Faith, shall rise forgiven, 

And at their Saviour's knees thy bright example own. 

* His Majesty then bade him (Mr. Herbert) withdraw j for he was about an 
hour in private with the Bishop (Juxon): and being called in, the Bishop went 
to prayer ; and reading also the 27th chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, 
which relateth the passion of our Blessed Saviour. The King, after the ser- 
vice was done, asked the Bishop, if he had made choice of that chapter, being 
so applicable to his present condition ? The Bishop replied, " May it please 
your Gracious Majesty, it is the proper lesson for the day, as appears by the 
Calendar ;" which the King was much affected with, so aptly serving as a 
seasonable preparation for his death that day. 

Herbert's Memoirs, p. 131. 



3Ffie Hestoratfon of tfie Hogal jFamtlg-* 

[May 29.] 

And Barzillai said unto the King, How long have I to live, that I should go 
up with the King unto Jerusalem ? 2 Sam. xix. 34. 

AS when the Paschal week is o'er, 
Sleeps in the silent aisles no more 

The breath of sacred song, 
But by the rising Saviour's light 
Awaken'd soars in airy flight, 

Or deepening rolls along ;t 

The while round altar, niche, and shrine, 
The funeral evergreens entwine, 

And a dark brilliance cast, 
The brighter for their hues of gloom, 
Tokens of Him, who through the tomb 

Into high glory pass'd : 

* [ The anniversary of the Restoration of Charles II. to the throne, in 
1660, commemorated in the Church of England. ] 

f The organ is silent in many Churches during Passion week : and in 
some it is the custom to put up evergreen boughs at Easter, as well as at 
Christmas time. 



398 The Restoration of the Royal Family. 

Such were the lights and such the strains, 
When proudly stream'd o'er Ocean plains 

Our own returning Cross ; 
For with that triumph seem'd to float 
Far on the breeze one dirgelike note 

Of orphanhood and loss. 

Father and King, O where art thou 1 
A greener wreath adorns thy brow, 

And clearer rays surround ; 
for one hour of prayer like thine, 
To plead before th' all-ruling shrine 

For Britain lost and found ! 

And he,* whose mild persuasive voice 
Taught us in trials to rejoice, 

* Read Fell's Life of Hammond, p. 283—296, Oxford, 1806. 

[ " At the opening of the year 1660, when every thing visibly tended to 
the reduction of his Sacred Majesty, and all persons in their several stations 
began to make way and prepare for it, the good doctor (Hammond) was, by 
the fathers of the Church, desired to repair to London, there to assist in the 
composure of breaches in the Church : which summons as he resolved unfit 
either to dispute or disobey, so could he not, without much violence to his in- 
clinations, submit unto. But, finding it his duty, he diverted all the uneasi- 
ness of antipathy and aversation into a deliberate preparation of himself for 
this new theatre of affairs, on which he was to enter. Where his first care 
was to fortify his mind against the usual temptations of business, place and 
power. And to this purpose, besides his earnest prayers to God for his assis- 
tance and disposal of him entirely to his glory, and a diligent survey of all 
his inclinations, and therein those which were his more open and less defen- 
sible parts, he farther called in, and solemnly adjured that friend of his, with 
whom he had the nearest opportunity of commerce, to study and examine 
the last ten years of his life, and with the justice due to a Christian friend- 



The Restoration of the Royal Family. 399 

Most like a faithful Dove, 
That by some ruin'd homestead builds, 
And pours to the forsaken fields 

His wonted lay of love : 

ship to observe the failances of all kinds, and show them to him : which 
being accordingly attempted, the product, after a diligent inquest, only prov- 
ing the representation of such defects which might have passed for virtue in 
another person j his next prospect was abroad, what several ways he might 
do good unto the public : and knowing that the diocese of Worcester was, by 
the favour of his majesty, designed his charge, he thought of several oppor- 
tunities of charity unto that place, and, among others, particularly cast in his 
mind for the repair of the cathedral church, and laid the foundation of a 
considerable advance unto that work. Which early care is here mentioned 
as an instance of his inflamed desire of doing good, and singular zeal to the 
house of God, and the restoring of a decent worship in a like decent place : 
for otherwise it was far from his custom to look forward into future events, 
but still to attend and follow after Providence, and let every day bear its own 
evil. And now, considering that the nation was under its great crisis and 
most hopeful method of its cure, which yet, if palliate and imperfect, would 
only make way to more fatal sickness, he fell to his devotions on that behalf, 
and made those two excellent prayers,* which were published immediately 

* [ See Works, vol. i. 727. The following is submitted as a specimen, 
from the former of them. 

"■ O blessed Lord, who in thine infinite mercy didst vouchsafe to plant a 
glorious Church among us, and now in thy just judgment hast permitted our 
sins and follies to root it up, be pleased at last to resume thoughts of peace 
towards us, that we may do the like to one another. Lord, look down from 
heaven, the habitation of thy holiness, and behold the ruins of a desolated 
Church, and compassionate to see her in the dust. Behold her, O Lord, not 
only broken, but crumbled, divided into so many sects and factions, that she 
no longer represents the Ark of the God of Israel, where the covenant and 
the manna were conserved, but the Ark of Noah, filled with all various sorts 
of unclean beasts : and to complete our misery and guilt, the spirit of divi- 
sion hath insinuated itself as well into our affections as our judgments : that 
badge of discipleship which thou recommendedstto us is cast off, and all the 
contrary wrath and bitterness, anger and clamour, called in to maintain and 
widen our breaches. O Lord, how long shall we thus violate and defame 
that gospel of peace that we profess ! How long shall we thus madly defeat 
ourselves, and lose that Christianity which we pretend to strive for ! O thou 



400 The Restoration of the Royal Family, 

Why comes he not to bear his part, 
To lift and guide th' exulting heart ?— 
A hand that cannot spare 

after his death, as they had been made immediately before his sickness, and 
were almost the very last thing he wrote. 

" Being in this state of mind, fully prepared for that new course of life, 
which had nothing to recommend it to his taste but its unpleasantness (the 
best allective unto him), he expected hourly the peremptory mandate which 
was to call him forth of his beloved retirements. 

" But in the instant, a more importunate, though infinitely more welcome 
summons engaged him on his last journey : for, on the 4th of April, he was 
seized with a sharp fit of the stone, with those symptoms that are usual in 
such cases ; which yet, upon the voidance of a stone, ceased for that time. 
However, on the 8th of the same month, it returned again with greater vio- 
lence : and though after two days the pain decreased, the suppression of urine 
yet continued, with frequent vomitings, and a distention of the whole body, 
and likewise shortness of breath, upon any little motion. When, as if he had, 
by some instinct, a certain knowledge of the issue of his sickness, he almost, at 
its first approach, conceived himself in hazard : and whereas at other times, 
when he saw his friends about him fearful, he was used to reply cheerfully, 
" that he was not dying yet;" now in the whole current of his disease, he 

which makest men to be of one mind in a house, be pleased so to unite us, 
that we may be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same 
judgment. And now that in civil affairs there seems some aptness to a com- 
posure, O let not our spiritual differences be more unreconcilable. Lord, 
let not the roughest winds blow out of the sanctuary : let not those which 
should be thy ambassadors for peace still sound a trumpet for war : but do 
thou reveal thyself to all our Elijahs, in that still small voice which may 
teach them to echo thee in the like meek treatings with others. Lord, let 
no unseasonable stiffness of those that are in the right, no perverse obstinacy 
of those that are in the wrong, hinder the closing of our wounds ; but let the 
one instruct in meekness, and be thou pleased to give the other repentance to 
the acknowledgement of the truth. To this end, do thou, O Lord, mollify all 
exasperated minds, take off all animosities and prejudices, contempt and 
heart-burnings, and, by uniting their hearts, prepare for the reconciling their 
opinions. And that nothing may intercept the clear sight of thy truth, Lord, 
let all private and secular designs be totally deposited, that gain may no lon- 
ger be the measure of our godliness, but the one great and common con- 
cernment of truth and peace may be unanimously and vigorously pursued, 
&c." J 



The Restoration of the Royal Family. 401 

Lies heavy on his gentle breast : 
We wish him health ; he sighs for rest, 
And Heaven accepts the prayer. 



never said any thing to avert suspicion, but addressed unto its cure, telling 
his friends with whom he was, ' that he should leave them in God's hands, 
who could supply abundantly all the assistance they could either expect or 
desire from him, and who would so provide, that they should not find his 
removal any loss.' And when he observed one of them with some earnest- 
ness pray for his health and continuance, he with tender passion replied, 
' I observe your zeal spends itself all in that one petition for my recovery ; in 
the interim you have no care of me in my greatest interest, which is, that I 
may be perfectly fitted for my change when God shall call me : I pray let 
some of your fervour be employed that way.' And being pressed to make it 
his own request to God to be continued longer in the world, to the service of 
the Church, he immediately began a solemn prayer, which contained, first, a 
very humble and melting acknowledgement of sin, and a most earnest inter- 
cession for mercy and forgiveness through the merits of his Saviour : next, 
resigning himself entirely into his Maker's hands, he begged that if the 
divine wisdom intended him for death, he might have a due preparation for 
it ; but if his life might be in any degree useful to the Church, even to one 
single soul, he then besought Almighty God to continue him, and by his 
grace to enable him to employ that life he so vouchsafed, industriously and 
successfully. After this he did with great affection intercede for this Church 
and nation, and with particular vigour and enforcement prayed for sincere 
performance of Christian duty, now so much decayed, to the equal supplant- 
ing and scandal of that holy calling} that those who professed that faith, might 
live according to the rules of it, and to the form of godliness, superadd the 
power. This, with some repetitions, and more tears, he pursued, and at last 
closed all in a prayer for the several concerns of the family where he was. 
With this he frequently blessed God for so far indulging to his infirmity ,as to 
make his disease so painless to him j withal to send it to him before he took 
his journey, whereas it might have taken him in the way or at his inn, with 
far greater disadvantages." Bishop FeWs Life of Dr. Hammond, in Words- 
worth's Ecclesiastical Biography, vol. V. p. 428. ] 

2h 



402 The Restoration of the Royal Family. 

Yes, go in peace, dear placid spright, 
111 spar'd ; but would we store aright 

Thy serious sweet farewell, 
We need not grudge thee to the skies. 
Sure after thee in time to rise, 

With thee for ever dwell. 

Till then, whene'er with duteous hand, 
Year after year, my native Land 

Her royal offering brings, 
Upon the Altar lays the Crown, 
And spreads her robes of old renown 

Before the King of Kings, 

Be some kind spirit, likest thine, 
Ever at hand, with airs divine 

The wandering heart to seize ; 
Whispering, " How long hast thou to live, 
" That thou shouldst Hope or Fancy give 

" To flowers or crowns like these ?" 



Eht gLtitmim; 



As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee : I will never leave thee, nor 
forsake thee. Joshua i. 5. 

THE voice that from the glory came 

To tell how Moses died unseen, 
And waken Joshua's spear of flame 

To victory on the mountains green, 
Its trumpet tones are sounding still, 

When Kings or Parents pass away, 
They greet us with a cheering thrill 

Of power and comfort in decay. 

Behind the soft bright summer cloud 

That makes such haste to melt and die, 
Our wistful gaze is oft allow'd 

A glimpse of the unchanging sky : 
Let storm and darkness do their worst ; 

For the lost dream the heart may ache, 
The heart may ache, but may not burst : 

Heaven will not leave thee nor forsake. 

* [ The anniversary of the day on which the reigning King comes to the 
throne, ] 



404 The Accession. 

One rock amid the weltering floods, 

One torch in a tempestuous night, 
One changeless pine in fading woods : — 

Such is the thought of Love and Might, 
True might and ever-present Love, 

When Death is busy near the throne, 
And Sorrow her keen sting would prove 

On Monarchs orphan'd and alone. 

In that lorn hour and desolate, 

"Who could endure a crown ? but He, 
Who singly bore the world's sad weight, 

Is near, to whisper, " Lean on me : 
" Thy clays of toil, thy nights of care, 

" Sad lonely dreams in crowded hall, 
" Darkness within, while pageants glare 

" Around — the Cross supports them all." 

O Promise of undying Love ! 

While Monarchs seek thee for repose, 
Far in the nameless mountain cove 

Each pastoral heart thy bounties knows. 
Ye, who in place of shepherds true 

Come trembling to their awful trust, 
Lo here the fountain to imbue 

With strength and hope your feeble dust. 

Not upon Kings or Priests alone 

The power of that dear word is spent ; 



The Accession, 405 

It chants to all in softest tone 

The lowly lesson of Content: 
Heaven's light is pour'd on high and low ; 

To high and low Heaven's Angel spake ; 
" Resign thee to thy weal or woe, 

" I ne'er will leave thee nor forsake." 



gftftftiatfou* 



After this, the Congregation shall be desired secretly in their prayers to 
make their humble supplications to God for all these things ; for the which 
prayers there shall be silence kept for a space. 

After which shall be sung or said by the Bishop (the persons to be ordained 
Priests all kneeling), " Veni, Creator Spiritus." 

Rubric in the Office for Ordering of Priests. 

'TWAS silence in thy temple, Lord, 

When slowly through the hallow' d air 

The spreading cloud of incense soar'd, 

Charg'd with the breath of Israel's prayer. 

'Twas silence round thy throne on high, 
When the last wondrous seal unclos'd,* 

And in the portals of the sky 

Thine armies awfully repos'd. 



* Rev. viii. 1. When He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence 
in Heaven for the space of half an hour. 

2h 2 



406 Ordination. 

And this deep pause, that o'er us now 
Is hovering — comes it not of Thee ? 

Is it not like a Mother's vow, 

When with her darling on her knee, 

She weighs and numbers o'er and o'er 

Love's treasure hid in her fond breast, 

To cull from that exhaustless store 

The dearest blessing and the best ? 

And where shall Mother's bosom find, 
With all its deep love-learned skill, 

A prayer so sweetly to her mind, 
As, in this sacred hour and still, 

Is wafted from the white-rob'd choir, 
Ere yet the pure high-breathed lay, 

" Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire," 
Rise floating on its dovelike way. 

And when it comes, so deep and clear 
The strain, so soft the melting fall, 

It seems not to th' entranced ear 

Less than thine own heart-cheering call, 

Spirit of Christ — thine earnest given 

That these our prayers are heard, and they,* 

* [ It were much to be desired, that the prayers " for those to be admitted 
into Holy Orders," which are included among the occasional prayers which 
follow immediately after the Litany, should be used as often as maybe, pre- 
viously to every ordination. The effect could not but be favourable, not 
only on the candidate for whom, but on the congregation by whom, they are 
used. ] 






Ordination. 407 

Who grasp, this hour, the sword of Heaven, 
Shall feel thee on their weary way. 

Oft as at morn or soothing eve 

Over the Holy Fount they lean, 
Their fading garland freshly weave, 

Or fan them with thine airs serene. 

Spirit of Light and Truth ! to Thee 

We trust them in that musing hour, 

Till they, with open heart and free, 

Teach all Thy word in all its power. 

When foemen watch their tents by night, 
And mists hang wide o'er moor and fell, 

Spirit of Counsel and of Might, 

Their pastoral warfare guide Thou well. 

And O ! when worn and tir'd they sigh 

With that more fearful war within, 
When Passion's storms are loud and high, 

And brooding o'er remember'd sin 

The heart dies down* — O mightiest then, 
Come ever true, come ever near, 

* [ W$z ©rtimal. 

Alas for me if I forget 

The memory of that day 
Which fills my waking thoughts, nor yet 

E'en sleep can take away ! 



408 Ordination. 

And wake their slumbering love again, 
Spirit of God's most holy Fear ! 



In dreams I still renew the rites 
Whose strong but mystic chain 

The spirit to its God unites, 
And none can part again. 

How oft the Bishop's form I see, 

And hear that thrilling tone 
Demanding with authority 

The heart for God alone ; 
Again I kneel as then I knelt, 

While he above me stands, 
And seem to feel as then I felt 

The pressure of his hands. 

Again the priests in meet array, 

As my weak spirit fails, 
Beside me bend them down to pray 

Before the chancel rails ; 
As then, the sacramental host 

Of God's elect are by, 
When many a voice its utterance lost, 

And tears dimmed many an eye. 

As then they on my vision rose, 

The vaulted aisles I see, 
And desk and cushioned book repose 

In solemn sanctity, — 
The mitre o'er the marble niche, 

The broken crook and key, 
That from a Bishop's tomb shone rich 

With polished tracery ; 

The hangings, the baptismal font, 
All, all, save me unchanged, 

The holy table, as was wont, 
With decency arranged ; 



Ordination. 409 

The linen cloth, the plate, the cup, 

Beneath their covering shine, 
Ere priestly hands are lifted up 

To bless the bread and wine. 

The solemn ceremonial past, 

And I am set apart 
To serve the Lord, from first to last, 

With undivided heart ; 
And I have sworn, with pledges dire 

Which God and man have heard, 
To speak the holy truth entire 
In action and in word. 

O thou who in thy holy place 

Hast set thine orders three, 
Grant me, thy meanest servant, grace 

To win a good degree ; 
That so replenished from above 

And in my office tried, 
Thou may'st be honoured, and in love 

Thy Church be edified ! 

Rev. William Croawell. ] 



foments. 



Morning, . . . . . 17 

Evening, . ..... 21 

Advent Sunday, ..... 24 

Second Sunday in Advent. The Signs of the Times, 30 
Third Sunday in Advent. The Travellers, . 33 

Fourth Sunday in Advent. Dimness, . . 37 

Christmas Day, ..... 41 

St. Stephen's Day, . . . . .46 

St. John's Day, ..... 50 

The Holy Innocents, . . . .52 

First Sunday after Christmas. The Sun-dial of Ahaz, 56 
The Circumcision of Christ, . . . .59 

Second Sunday after Christmas. The Pilgrim's Song, 63 
The Epiphany, ..... 67 

First Sunday after Epiphany. The Nightingale, . 71 
Second Sunday after Epiphany. The Secret of Perpet- 
ual Youth, . . . . .74 

Third Sunday after Epiphany. The Good Centurion, 78 
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. The World is for Ex- 
citement, the Gospel for Soothing, . . 82 
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. Cure Sin and you cure 
Sorrow, ..... 85 



412 Contents. 

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. The Benefits of Uncer- 
tainty, . . . . . 89 

Septuagesima Sunday, ... 93 

Sexagesima Sunday, .... 96 

Quinquagesima Sunday, .... 100 

Ash- Wednesday, .... 104 

First Sunday in Lent. The City of Refuge, . . 107 

Second Sunday in Lent. Esau's Forfeit, . 110 

Third Sunday in Lent. The Spoils of Satan, . 114 

Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Rosebud, . . 117 

Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Burning Bush, . . 121 

Palm Sunday. The Children in the Temple, . 125 

Monday before Easter. Christ waiting for the Cross, 128 
Tuesday before Easter. Christ refusing the Wine and 

Myrrh, . ..... 132 

Wednesday before Easter. Christ in the Garden, 135 

Thursday before Easter. The Vision of the latter days, 139 

Good Friday, ..... 143 

Easter Eve, ...... 147 

Easter Day, ..... 151 

Monday in Easter Week. St. Peter and Cornelius, 155 
Tuesday in Easter Week. The Snow Drop, . 158 
First Sunday after Easter. The Restless Pastor re- 
proved, ..... 161 

Second Sunday after Easter. Balaam, . . 165 

Third Sunday after Easter. Languor and Travail, 169 

Fourth Sunday after Easter. The Dove on the Cross, 173 

Fifth Sunday after Easter. Rogation Sunday, . 177 

Ascension Day, ..... 181 

Sunday after Ascension, .... 185 

Whitsunday, . . . . . . 189 



Contents. 413 

Monday in Whitsun-Week. The City of Confusion, 192 
Tuesday in Whitsun-Week. Holy Orders, . . 197 

Trinity Sunday, ..... 201 

First Sunday after Trinity. Israel among the Ruins of 
Canaan, ..... 204 

Second Sunday after Trinity. Charity the Life of 

Faith, 207 

Third Sunday after Trinity. Comfort for Sinners in 

the presence of the Good, . . . 211 

Fourth Sunday after Trinity. The Groans of Nature, 218 
Fifth Sunday after Trinity. The Fishermen of Beth- ] 
saida, . . . . . . 218 

Sixth Sunday after Trinity. The Psalmist repenting, 221 
Seventh Sunday after Trinity. The Feast in the Wil- 
derness, ..... 225 

Eighth Sunday after Trinity. The Disobedient Pro- 
phet, ...... 228 

Ninth Sunday after Trinity. Elijah in Horeb, . 231 

Tenth Sunday after Trinity. Christ weeping over Je- 
rusalem, ...... 235 

Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. Gehazi reproved, 238 

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. The Deaf and Dumb, 241 
Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. Moses on the Mount, 245 
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Ten Lepers, 250 
Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Flowers of the 

Field, . . . . . .253 

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Hope is better than 

Ease, . . . . . . 256 

Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. Ezekiel's Vision in 

the Temple, . . . . .259 

2 i 



414 Contents, 

Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. The Church in the 

Wilderness, . . . . .263 

Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. Shadrach, Meshach, 

and Abednego, ..... 266 
Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. Mountain Scenery, 271 
Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. The Redbreast in 

September, . 274 

Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity. The Rule of 

Christian Forgiveness, . . . 277 

Twenty. third Sunday after Trinity. The Forest Leaves 

in Autumn, ..... 280 
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity. Imperfection of 

Human Sympathy, .... 283 

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity. The two Rainbows, 286 
Sunday next before Advent. Self-examination before 

Advent, . . . . . .289 

St. Andrew's Day, . .'. . . 293 

St. Thomas the Apostle, . . . . 297 

Conversion of St. Paul, .... 302 

The Purification of St. Mary the Virgin, . . 307 

St. Matthias' Day, .... 312 

The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, . 315 

St. Mark's Day, . . 319 

St. Philip and St. James's Day, . . .322 

St. Barnabas the Apostle, . . . 325 

St. John Baptist's Day, . . . .329 

St. Peter's Day, ..... 333 

St. James the Apostle, .... 338 

St. Bartholomew the Apostle, . . . 341 

St. Matthew the Apostle, . . . .345 

St. Michael and all Angels, . . . 349 



Contents. 415 

St. Luke the Evangelist, .... 353 

St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles, . . 358 
All Saints' Day, . . . • .362 

Holy Communion, .... 365 

Holy Baptism, ..... 369 

Catechism, ..... 371 

Confirmation, ..... 374 

Matrimony, ..... 376 

Visitation and Communion of the Sick, . . 379 

Burial of the Dead, .... 381 

Churching of Women, .... 384 

Commination, ..... 386 

Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, . . . 389 

Gunpowder Treason, .... 391 

King Charles the Martyr, .... 394 

The Restoration of the Royal Family, . . 397 

The Accession, ..... 403 

Ordination, ..... 405 



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